Recess: Secret of Beginning
by NatalieJ-101
Summary: The Recess Gang is back, this time going through their years of middle school. Join the 6 as they battle through puberty, nasty Ashley's, crushes, parties, drama and much more. Have the Ashley's changed? How will the Gang cope with puberty?Are T.J and Spinelli going to finally get together? read to find out.
1. Chapter 1

Hey, guys. It's definitely been a while since we've seen each other. Well since you've seen me on screen. But I decided to come back to tell you one last time about us. Since a lot of people wonder what happened to us later on after our show ended. I'll start from middle school.

Luckily all of us were sent to the same Middle School, Spiro T. Agnew Middle School. S.T.A for short. I wasn't too pleased leaving third street school behind. We had some great memories there. Most of us were feeling nostalgic, it was our last summer as elementary kids.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to spend it together. Everyone was dragged either to a camp or on holidays with their family. I, as usual, stayed in Arkansas for the summer. It made me think back to the summer of fourth grade when Benedict nearly whipped out summer.

So I was slightly excited to be starting school as I finally got to see my friends again. We kept in touch through the whole summer by text and emails, but it was different from seeing each other in real person. But I had no idea of the number of changes and drama I was in for while starting middle school.

 **~Hey guys I know this chapter is very short but it's just an introductory, hopefully, you could guess in who's point of view that was ;) you can tell me in the review who its is**

 **I decided to write a recess fanfiction since I couldn't find any on Wattpad and I ship T.J and Spinelli real bad. Fanfiction archive has a fair share of fanfictions but compared to other fandoms I don't think it gets as much attention. So I finally decided to take the matter into my own hands and write a T.J x Spinelli story to add to the recess fanfictions :)**

 **I hope you enjoy,**

 **Love ~ Natalie 3 :) (p.s all credits go to Spindus for the cover image, I hope they don't mind me using it. I don't have a DeviantArt account so I didn't know how to ask for their permission. If they do mind me using it, I will take it down and replace it)  
**


	2. Chapter 2

A phone blared out Phoenix by Fall Out Boy loudly around the room. Spinelli groaned as she reached over sleepily to shut off her alarm, which vibrated on her bedside table. She switched it off before stuffing her face into her pillow and groaning. She stuck her head back up, let out a huff and rolled herself off her bed. She proceeded to the bathroom lazily while yawning. She gazed at herself in the mirror tiredly before turning on her tap and splashing cold water on her face. She looked back up into the mirror more awake this time.

Spinelli, being 13 years of age and nearly turning 14 soon had changed a bit since 4th grade. She grew to be 5'0 tall and she grew out her thick black hair up to her mid-back. Her figure started to show through as well as her chest, which she wasn't too pleased with but over the summer she started to accept it and even take pride in it. Out of the two girls in the group, she was the first one to start her puberty. She even got her period before Gretchen, which slightly scared her at the time but she got used to it pretty quickly. She wasn't happy to be the first to start her puberty. But she got over it and learned to deal with it. Although Spinelli still had some tomboy tendencies she grew out of most of them. She didn't try to punch or hurt anyone who made fun of her now. She opted to death threats and being very aloof. Although if someone even dared to touch or make fun of her friends, she didn't hesitate to start a fight then.

She proceeded to brush her teeth and hair. Spinelli wasn't a fan of make-up, wearing only a bit of concealer to hide any blemishes or pimples, a small amount of eyeliner and chapstick. She went back to her room to get dressed. She put on a pair of black jeans, grey tank top, a red hoodie and red converse. She also put on her signature orange beanie, which she still had from 4th grade, making sure not to cover her side fringe. Her clothing style leant to be a bit more girly but not too girly. She developed an obsession with beanies, hats, hoodies, leather jackets, plaid shirts, boots and scarfs. She had a snapback collection as well as a hoodie/jumper one. They consisted of designs of her favourite fandoms, quotes and generally anything that she found interesting. Jegging was her usual go to wear. But sometimes she got an urge to wear a skirt or even a dress. But it was on very odd occasions, but it did happen.

It started in the middle of 6th grade. Only Gretchen knew about it until one day T.J called for her on the weekend and she was wearing a grey dress with an orange splatter design on it along with a jean jacket and knee-high boots. He was surprised and questioned her about it, she revealed to him that she just felt like wearing it. Although he was surprised, he still smiled and said she looked good in. They then went to the lake to throw some pebbles and after headed off to Kelso's.

Spinelli also started to pay attention in school and stopped hiding that she got good grades from her friends. Although she might not have been a straight A student like Gretchen, her grades didn't go below a C, maths and science being the only exceptions. She wasn't a goody two shoes either, teachers did have to remind her to quieten down or to stop talking but it never really went beyond that, maybe some unfinished homework once in a while but otherwise nothing too serious. Unless you count the pranks the group sometimes pulled.

Spinelli grabbed her bag and skipped downstairs. Her parents were already up and had made breakfast which consisted of pancakes. Spinelli sat down at the table and grabbed a plate of pancakes which she proceeds to pour maple syrup over. She gobbled them up quickly. "Morning Pookie, did you sleep well?" Mr Spinelli asked as he came into the kitchen in his navy bathrobe and sat across from her. "Same as always" Spinelli replied with her mouth full. She got used to her parent's embarrassing antics and learned to ignore and deal with them. "Ashley, please don't speak with your mouth full" Mrs Spinelli scolded while still frying more pancakes. Spinelli rolled her eyes slightly and replied "Sorry ma".

"Can one of you please drive me to school?" Spinelli asked as she finished her pancakes and put her plate in the sink. She then put her lunch in her bag and then grabbed a chocolate milk carton out of the fridge. "I'm very sorry sweetie, both I and your father have to go to work early" Mrs Spinell apologised. Mr Spinelli nodded as he finished off his cup of coffee. Spinelli looked disappointed as she looked from her mum to her dad. "I'll drive you" Joey said as he came into the kitchen. Spinelli smiled. "Thanks Joe, you're the best" she said before she ran out of the house and into his black honda accord, 1999 model. Joey winked at his parents before following Spinelli.

Joey was tall, standing at 6'0. He was skinny and had black short hair and dark eyes. His two arms consisted of many tattoos but you usually didn't see them because of his signature black leather jacket that he only took off at home. He was 21 years old and was going to turn 22 in a couple of months. They were both very close, and Spinelli was very aware of how much Joey actually cared for her, even if he didn't say it a lot she knew by his actions that he did. Joey dropped her off at the front entrance but didn't drive off before teasing her. After they had their usual sibling banter he drove off saying he needs to hurry if he doesn't want to be late for work. Spinelli sighed and shaked her head before turning her attettion to the school building.

 **~Hey Guys, Hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you want to leave any suggestions, please do so in the reviews :) have a good day/afternoon/night ;)**

 **Love,  
Natalie 3 :) (p.s all credits go to Fall Out Boy for their song The Phoeinx, I don't own the song)**


	3. Chapter 3

Spiro T. Agnew was huge, well it was bigger compared to third street school anyway. It was a one-floor building with light grey stone walls and a black slate roof. Spinelli stood at the front entrance and took in the surroundings. There was a car park on the right side and lots of trees were planted around. A huge field was at the back of the school along with the gym hall. The bike racks were also in the back of the school.

"Spinelli?" a familiar feminine voice questioned. Spinelli turned around to see Gretchen. She smiled as she saw her female friend. "Gretch" Spinelli exclaimed as they both hugged. "I haven't seen you all summer, how have you been? How was Italy?" Gretchen questioned. Spinelli laughed. "I've been good. Italy was a lot of fun but nothing compares to good old Arkansas. I missed this place and of course all of you guys" Spinelli answered.

"What about you, how was your summer?" Spinelli asked. "It was great, the science camp this year really let me do a lot more exploring than the previous years, it was very intellectually. I truly enjoyed it" Gretchen answered. Personality wise Gretchen didn't seem to have changed. "That's great!" Spinelli exclaimed. "Yes it is, but it was very lonely, I missed not having you guys around" Gretchen said. Spinelli nodded in agreement.

Gretchen had also changed physically a bit over the years. She was still as tall as ever, standing probably at 5'7. She still had her thin, slim figure but you could tell her figure and her chest started getting more defined. She got braces for her teeth about a year ago and she swapped her glasses for slightly smaller ones and she changed them to be pink and square shaped. Her long auburn hair was in a loose braid and she was wearing a white tank top with a baby blue cardigan, a grey pair of jeans and a pair of ugg boots. She didn't seem to be wearing any make-up but she still managed to look really pretty.

"Hey it's Gretchen and Spinelli" someone called. Spinelli looked over Gretchen's shoulder to see Mickey and Gus racing towards them. "My dear friends it truly is an honour to see you again" Mickey exclaimed dramatically as always. It was hard to tell if he had gotten taller or not, but he defiantly lost some weight. Although his blonde mess of hair hadn't been introduced to a comb yet.

He was wearing a orange, white and blue open plaid shirt with short sleeves with a white top underneath. He had on some khaki shorts and navy tennis shoes. "Are any of you guys as nervous as I am?" Gus asked nervously. He grew to be a head taller then Spinelli, probably 5'3 or 5'4. Other then that he looked like the same Gus, maybe became more slimer after his height increased. But he still had the same buzz hair cut, square black glasses and nervous demaenor. He was wearing a grey t-shirt with a dark green button up shirt over it, the collar unbuttoned. He had on a pair of beige jeans and army printed vans.

"Relax Gus, it's only our first day of middle school, it's not like your about to die" Spinelli said with slight sarcasm. "Don't frett my dear Gus you are not alone, we will be there with you so no harm can come your way" Mickey preached trying to reasure Gus. "It's a normal response of the mind for you to be nervous Gus" Gretchen inquired intelectually. Gus smiled at them, he still admired his friends friendliness. He couldn't have asked for better friends.

"Now we just have to wait for Vince and T.J" Spinelli remarked as she looked around trying to spot her friends. "I heard my name and LaSalle is here to tackle middle school flat on it's face. It won't even know what hit it" a voice clearly belonging to Vince remarked. The ever confident Vince, it seemed he hadn't changed in personality either. T.J and Vince both joined into their circle.

Vince seemed to have grown a bit, him and Gretchen being even in height. He still looked the same though. Maybe started to develop some muscles from all his sport activities. He was wearing a black t-shirt with a yellow hoodie over it. The same grey cargo shorts and black and white high tops.

"Well they better get ready for us because we are going to probably turn this school upside down" T.J added. He grew too, looked to be around 5'4. This shocked Spinelli as she remebered him being the same height as her before summer started. His height growth made him loose most of his chubbiness. He still had the same brilliant bright blue eyes and soft messy chestnut brown hair. His signature red hat perched on his head. He was wearing a pair of blue jeans with white converse. A white t-shirt with quarter length sleeves that were red. Puberty definatly hit him hard, but he still managed to look like the same old T.J.

The group laughed and talked about their summer and the upcoming year ahead of them. Spinelli had just finished a thorough conversation with Mickey when someone decided to attack her from behind. She shrieked but covered her mouth quickly with her hands and turned to look at her attacker. T.J was doubled over, hands on his knees laughing his head off.

"Sorry Spin, I just couldn't help it, your reaction was priceless" He laughed as he wipped his eyes. Spinelli tried to glare at him but failed to do so. "detweiler you are so dead" she threatned. He raised his eyebrows and smirked playfully, his eyes lighting up with mischief. "Oh really" he taunted playfully. Spinell smirked. It must have slipped T.J's mind that they have known each other for prpbably over 10 years and that Spinelli knew his weaknesses. Including his tickilishness.

Spinelli started to advance on him slowly as he started to back away nervously. "Spin, what are you up to" He asked nervously. Spinelli smiled mischieviously. "Oh don't be afraid Theodore, I promise no harm will come to you" She replied innocently. His eyes widned slightly and he got prepared to bolt. But Spinelli got to him first and she started her tickling torture. He laughed and tried to push her off with no success.

Unfourtantly he remembered that Spinelli also had a tickle weakness and he started to tickle her back. This lasted for a good while until the bell interuppted them. T.J still had his hands on her waist to try and steady her as Spinelli leaned her head on his shoulder to try to calm her giggles and catch her breath.

"C'mon we don't want to be late on the first day" T.J said. Spinelli looked up at him. "Oh no, that would be a tragedy" Spinelli replied with sarcastic amusement. T.J rolled his eyes smirking as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her through the crowd of people into the main hall.

 **~Hey Guys, two chapters in one day, I hope your happy :) please favourite, review and follow :)**

 **Love, Natalie (I don't own Recess, Disney and Joe & Paul do)**


	4. Chapter 4

The assembly took up the first two classes of their schedule. Which the gang was grateful for, well except Gretchen. They got their schedules assigned and their school journals distributed for the year. The year group got dismissed and was sent off to go to their next class on their schedule. "Hey let's check what options and other classes we have together, we got thrown out of there so quickly I didn't get a chance to check" T.J suggested.

Gretchen had of course gotten into all honour classes and had only one class with Mickey and Spinelli and that was English. She had homeroom with Vince and Mickey and all the gang had Study hall together as their last class at the end of the day. Gus was on his own for homeroom and T.J, Vince and Spinelli had all homeroom together. T.J and Spinelli had all classes together except one of their options.

"Aww I got put into Business, that whomps" T.J stated. "I got into Technology and Tech Graph, I'm happy" Gus added with a smile on his face. "Business and Technology" Gretchen stated. "Yes! at least I got Gretchen to help me in business" T.J said as he fist bumped the air. "How did you even manage to get into Business Teej?" Spinelli asked as she studied his schedule. T.J shrugged. "Home ec.? really?" Spinelli questioned as she raised an eyebrow and looked at T.J. "Don't judge me, I get to eat my classwork. That's all that matters" T.J replied defensively. Spinelli rolled her eyes. "Hey Teej, we got home ec. together" Vince stated and the two boys gave each other a high five. "What about you Mickey?" Gretchen asked. "Music and art naturally" Mickey stated.

"Spin?" T.J questioned as he turned to look over at her. Spinelli looked down at her schedule to try and find her options. When she did she stopped dead in her tracks and stared at her schedule. "What! this can't be right!" Spinelli yelled as she scanned her schedule furiously. The gang stopped walking and looked at her with confusion. "Whats wrong Spin?" T.J questioned as he walked over and stood beside her. He peered at her schedule before his face broke into a smile and he tried to hide his laughter, which he miserably failed to do. Spinelli turned and glared at him. "It's not funny!" she yelled as she smacked his arm. This made T.J laugh even harder.

Turns out that Spinelli got put into home ec., the thought of Spinelli cooking and sewing really was a hilarious site to imagine. Spinelli was about to stomp off down the hall but T.J stopped her by slinging an arm around her shoulders. "It's okay Spin, look at the bright side. You'll get to eat in class and besides you'll have me and Vince with you, it won't be that bad" T.J said trying to lighten up her mood. Spinelli huffed. "I guess your right", she said. " Hey, at least your other option is art" T.J stated.

"Wait a minute, Spinelli got into home ec. ?" Vince questioned. Spinelli glared at him. "If you don't want to say hello to madame fist you'll keep your mouth shut" Spinelli threatened. Vince put his hands up in defence. "I was just clarifying that's all" Vince stammered. "But really, I can't wait to see you in an apron" Vince stated before making a dash down the hall. "LaSalle! come back here!" Spinelli yelled running after him. "You are dead when I catch you, you hear me! Dead!" Spinelli continued to yell at him. "We'll see how smartass you'll be when I'm done with you!" Spinelli continued yelling. " I wonder what flowers he would like for his funeral?" Gus stated. The rest looked at him before running after Spinelli so they wouldn't have to answer that question.

They managed to catch Spinelli and calm her down before she murdered Vince. The gang then separated to go to their respective classes. Gretchen broke off from the gang first and hurried to her double maths class. Mickey and Gus went off next to room 203 for Geography leaving T.J, Spinelli and Vince together. They had History now in room 220. They found their class and sat down in the fourth row beside the windows. T.J and Spinelli sat beside each other and Vince sat on the desk behind them. The second bell rang and their history teacher walked in.

"Okay guys, everyone please sit down" The teacher stated and looked around the class. When everyone was settled down, the teacher started to talk again. "Okay, My name is Mrs Healy and I'm going to be your history teacher for the next two years in this school" She introduced herself. The class went by fast, they were told to bring in their books for the next day so they could start archaeology. Their next class was Geography. They got what seemed to be a nice enough Ms Maher. She made them take down notes on what they would need and introduced them to their first geography chapter they would be covering.

Nothing interesting really happened on the first day, just general boring school procedures. But they did get their locker keys at the end of the day which to them seemed pretty cool. They were also glad to find out that their big break lasts for 55mins, which as T.J stated was Tender. "Hey Spin, want to come over? mum's making her lasagne and the premiere of the new senior fusion cartoon is on tonight" T.J asked. "Sounds fun" Spinelli stated. They spent the rest of the evening eating and goofing off in T.J's living room before Spinelli had to go back home at around 9, it was a school night after all.

 **~ Hello Everyone, I hope you are enjoying this story :) please review, favourite and follow**

 **(p.s I got slightly lazy at the end so excuse the quick ending)**

 **Love, Natalie 3**

 **Also wanted to thank Trampled Under Foot for their review I'm very happy that you are liking the story and I tried my best to keep the characters in character and Thank you so much for your review :)**


	5. Chapter 5

A month had passed since the gang started middle school. Spinelli, T.J and Vince joined the lacrosse team. Vince of course, had joined as many sport activities as possible; Basketball, Football and track. Mickey joined the drama club and the choir. Gretchen convinced T.J to join the debate team with her and she also convinced most of the gang to join the Library committee, bribing them with extra credit. The only people she didn't convince to join were Mickey and Vince. The days the library was opened contradicted with Mickey's choir practice so he couldn't join. Vince said he already has extra credit from being on nearly all the sports teams in school. Although being on the library committee seemed like a bad thing at the start, it actually became a good way to hang out with each other.

The gang hadn't been able to hang out much during the week. Usually only finding some time on the weekends and at lunch times. It made them slightly distant but they made it work. This month Halloween was also coming up so the gang was super excited. But Halloween wasn't the only event coming up, it was Spinelli's birthday soon as well. Spinelli was actually the youngest in the group, so she was the last to turn 14 out of the gang.

Her real birthday was on the 8th of October but she decided to have her birthday party on the 14th and of course Spinelli had already talked her parents into letting her do bowling and laser tag for her birthday. So let's just say it put Spinelli in an extra happy and hyper mood, which was unusual.

"Hey Spin did we get any maths homework?" T.J asked as the duo walked to the cafeteria together. "Page 24, questions 1- 12 I think" Spinelli answered. They entered the cafeteria and made their way over to their usual table. Mickey, Gus and Gretchen were already there. Vince had a basketball meeting so he would join them later. 'Hey guys" Spinelli greeted as she sat down beside Gretchen. "Hey" Gretchen greeted her back.

"How are you two feeling about your first lacrosse game on Friday?" Gretchen asked. "Pretty good, I guess" T.J answered as he looked at Spinelli for approval. "We are totally going to slay the Highlanders" Spinelli exclaimed. "I must say it's lovely to have that school spirit, Spinelli, keep it up" Mickey praised. "You guys are coming right?" Spinelli asked with her mouth full. "We wouldn't miss your first game in the world" Gretchen said. "Do swallow your food before speaking Spinelli" Gretchen pointed out. "You sound exactly like my mother" Spinelli commented.

"I'm finished anyway" Spinelli said. "We should go outside, it's really warm today" T.J commented. "Yeah" the rest agreed. "Okay, I'll meet you guys there, I need to put my tray back" Spinelli said. The rest of the gang agreed and made their way outside. Spinelli threw her rubbish away and put her tray back onto the stack of trays. As she turned around to leave she bumped into someone and stumbled back, luckily she didn't fall.

Of course, it had to be no other than Ashley A herself. Spinelli was hoping she'd be able to avoid the Ashley's this year, guess her wishes didn't come true. Ashley A hadn't fallen either which Spinelli actually was grateful for, she wasn't in the mood for Ashley A ranting at her even more. "Like watch where you are going next time would you" Ashley A complained. "Soz" Spinelli answered.

Ashley A looked up at her. "Oh, it's you" Ashley A said. "Yup, it's me" Spinelli answered and sighed. Ashley hadn't changed dramatically, still seemed like the same Girly Girl. She changed physically, though, puberty must have hit her over the summer. She was wearing a fair amount of makeup; Lipgloss, blush, mascara, eyeliner and eyeshadow. Surprisingly it looked good and wasn't all caked on and in your face. Her blonde medium hair was straightened and held back by a black hair band. She had on a pink sleeveless halter blouse along with white jeggings and a pair of baby pink flats. Pink still seemed to be her dominant colour.

"I need to catch up with my friends, I'll see you around" Spinelli said awkwardly. This is probably one of the first time's that she bumped into an Ashley and didn't end up insulting and arguing with her. "Yea of course" Ashley A replied. Just as Spinelli was about to walk away, Ashley A stopped her. "By the way, glad to see your embracing style even though it still needs a lot of work" Ashley A teased. Spinelli smiled, the same old Ashley A. Spinelli had her hair pulled into a high ponytail but she had a lot of loose hair framing her face. She had on mint green jeggings, a grey sweater with black love hearts and white and orange high tops."Thanks, you haven't changed yours at all, still look the same to me" Spinelli said.

"Your kidding! I like totally had to tone down on the brands after my dad blocked my credit card and cut down my allowance" Ashley A laughed. Spinelli raised her eyebrows. "It definitely doesn't show" Spinelli replied. "Thanks" Ashley A said. "Well, it was actually...somewhat nice talking to you...I'll see you around" Spinelli said. "Yeah, see you" Ashley A said and walked away to her table.

Spinelli found the gang outside under one of the trees and ran to join them. Vince had also joined them. "Hey, Spin where were you? We were starting to get worried" T.J said as Spinelli plopped herself beside him in the grass. "More like T.J was getting worried" Vince teased. T.J punched his shoulder before turning back towards Spinelli.

"You guys are not going to believe it" Spinelli said. The gang turned to look at her in question. "I ran into Ashley A, and surprisingly I didn't scratch her face off" Spinelli said with confusion lacing her voice. "Wait a minute, we are talking about the same Ashley A right?" Gus asked. "No, she has a secret long lost twin" Spinelli answered sarcastically. "What! No way!" Gus exclaimed. The gang gave Gus a look. "Gus...I was being sarcastic" Spinelli said. "Oh..." Gus replied. He looked away embarrassed.

"Anyway, yeah. We had an actual human conversation. She complimented me while insulting me at the same time and she was actually kind of...nice to me?" Spinelli explained. "That is some messed up stuff right there" Vince commented. "I think it's wonderful to see Ashley A maturing and coming to her senses" Mickey sighed. "I don't know if I like it, it's weird and kind of creeps me out" Spinelli answered. "Yeah, the Ashley's being nice. That is weird" T.J agreed.

"So guys what are we doing for Halloween?" Vince asked. "That's weeks from now Vince" Spinelli said. "Yeah but I think we should think of something now then deciding last minute" Vince said. "I'm with Vince on that one" Gretchen chirped. "Hang out at my place? Then go trick or treating?" T.J suggested. "Sounds wonderful" Mickey exclaimed. "Count me in" Gus chimed. "Sounds like a plan" Vince commented. "Yes indeed" Gretchen added. "I'm down for it" Spinelli said. "Cool, we'll sort out the details closer to Halloween" T.J said.

"Mum! I'm home!" Spinelli yelled down her hallway as she kicked off her shoes. She moved house in the middle of 5th grade and is actually now living only one house down from T.J's. "Good, dinner will be ready in 10" Mrs Spinelli answered. "I kind of dragged a stray home, is that okay?" Spinelli asked. "Thank you, Spinelli calling someone a, stray, is very kind of you" T.J teased sarcastically. "Ashley, it's not nice to call people stray's" Mrs Spinelli warned as she appeared in the hallway. "Hello T.J" Mrs Spinelli greeted. "Hello Mrs Spinelli" T.J greeted back.

"Your dad will be back from work later than usual, he has a meeting" Mrs Spinelli explained. "Okay cool" Spinelli answered. "What's for dinner?" Spinelli asked. "Chicken stir fry" Mrs Spinelli answered as she disappeared into the kitchen. "Yes" Spinelli cheered. T.J chuckled. "Race you upstairs!" Spinelli announced as she got a head start. "Hey! no fair! you got a head start!" T.J yelled as he raced after her.

The two spent most of their time playing video games. Until T.J started playing Pokemon, which they took turns in playing. At the moment T.J was viciously slamming the buttons down and Spinelli was texting and scrolling through her phone. T.J unfourtantly lost. He groaned loudly and threw his head back. "Awww poor baby" Spinelli cooed as she patted his head comically. T.J pulled his head back and looked at her in confusion and amusement.

"What are you looking at Spin?" T.J questioned. "Stuff" Spinelli answered. T.J rolled his eyes. "How very descriptive" T.J said sarcastically. "I Know right! I should totally tone it down" Spinelli answered with as much sarcasm. The duo burst out laughing. "We should play a game" T.J suggested. "What do you have in mind Detweiler?" Spinelli asked. "20 question?" T.J said as he rolled his head to look at her. Spinelli looked up. "I don't know, do we not like know everything about each other already?" She asked as she looked at him. T.J shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not" He answered. "Sure" Spinelli gave in.

"But you have to start" Spinelli said. "Okay but we both have to answer the questions" T.J said. "Okay" Spinelli agreed. "Let's start off easy, Favourite colour?" T.J asked. Spinelli stared at him. "Seriously?" She asked. T.J smiled. "Red and blue" Spinelli answered and sighed. "Green and Blue" T.J said. "Your turn" he prompted. "Okay let me think" Spinelli said. "Favourite anime?" she asked. "Pokemon, Naruto and Fullmetal Alchemist" T.J answered. "Fullmetal Alchemist, Fairy Tail and Soul Eater" Spinelli said.

They asked a few more questions like; What's your favourite food?, Favourite movie?, Favourite T.V show? What country do you want to visit? If you could be an animal what would you be? Top five things you can't live without?,Biggest Insecurity?. These were the easier questions now they started to go into deeper ones.

"Confess a talent or a hobby I don't know about"T.J asked. Spinelli looked at him sceptically. "Horse riding" Spinelli answered. "What?!" T.J exclaimed. "Really?" T.J asked. Spinelli nodded. "How long?" T.J asked. "Since I was 11, my uncle owns a stable and my dad was raised on a horse farm. It runs in the blood. We stay with my uncle during Christmas and half the summer so horse-riding was a cure for boredom then it became a hobby" Spinelli answered. "That's insane! I would have never guessed"T.J said in awe. "Yeah it isn't something I go around confessing"Spinelli said. "I think that's cool, I find horse riding to be for people with huge determination and lots of bravery since it's one of the most dangerous sports"T.J said. Spinelli stared at him in shock. "What?" he asked. "Sorry, it's just I don't often hear people who don't do horse riding say something that positive and true about it" Spinelli said.

"I've watched equestrian on Olympics once, I find it impressive how easy they made it look even though you need years to be that good, it's insane!" T.J exclaimed. Spinelli smiled. "Anyway, what's your closet hobby?" Spinelli asked. "I have a video games youtube channel and a normal youtube channel as well" T.J answered without any hesitation. "Since when!?" Spinelli asked. "Less than a year, I started it this summer" T.J confessed. "And I hear about this only now!?" Spinelli questioned. "Sorry, I wanted to make sure it would work out before I told anyone" T.J confessed. "I'll let you off this time" Spinelli warned.

"Okay next question" T.J said. "What started off your puberty?" Spinelli asked. T.J raised an eyebrow at her. "What? I'm curious!" Spinelli said defensively. "I'd probably say height growth and hair growth" T.J confessed. "Yeah, your leg hair is very visible" Spinelli teased. T.J looked at her unamused. "I hate you" He said with fake hurt. Spinelli laughed. "Aww...Love you too Teej" Spinelli giggled. T.J rolled his eyes.

"How about you Missy?" T.J asked. "Period and Bra's, enough said" Spinelli chuckled. "Oh, yea how could I forget" T.J laughed. "It's not funny! My mum didn't explain that girls get periods, I thought I was dying!" Spinelli defended. "I know but your reaction and how you came screaming down the stairs that you're peeing blood, that was way too hilarious!" T.J said he was nearly in tears. Spinelli rolled her eyes but a smile tugged at her lips.

"Dinner!" Mrs Spinelli yelled from downstairs. "We'll have to continue this game another time" Spinelli said. "Yeah, it was fun" T.J smiled. Spinelli smiled back. The duo got off the bed and trotted downstairs to eat their dinner.

 **Hello, I'm back! sorry for not updating in forever. I hope you can forgive me, school is so much of a pain in the butt this year. Since I have junior cert this year, my teachers have been killing me with homework! yay...anyway here is the long awaited chapter 5, I had it updated on Wattpad in ages but I couldn't find the time and move my lazy butt to update it. Any spare time that I have I use for sleep. Anyhow, hope you enjoy and please review :)**

 **Love~Natalie 3**


	6. Chapter 6

The gang walked into school on Monday morning to be greeted by cheers and cat calls as they walked through the crowd to get to their lockers. "Hey, LaSalle, Detweiler good game. You guys knocked the Highlanders out of that pitch!" A guy complimented them. "Thanks Jack! ready for the basketball game on Wednesday?" Vince asked. "You bet" Jack exclaimed. "Hey, do we have to bring our workbook to Geography today?" Spinelli asked as she joined them. "Nah, she said we have to bring it on Friday" Vince replied. "Okay thanks" Spinelli said. Jack stared at her, checking her out subtly as Vince talked to her. T.J noticed and gave the boy a confused look before figuring out what he was doing and started to give the boy a death stare. "You weren't too bad yourself Spinelli, didn't know a girl could tackle like that" Jack laughed. Spinelli raised an eyebrow. "Thanks..." She said as she trailed off. T.J kept on glaring at him as he stood to the side. Jack noticed and started to fidget and laugh nervously "Anyway, I need to get to class. See you at practice LaSalle!" Jack yelled as he walked away, winking towards Spinelli as he did so.

"Spinelli stood blinking for a moment. "Was that an eye twitch or did that boy seriously just wink at me?!" Spinelli exclaimed as she turned towards the gang. Gretchen smirked at her "Well I was expecting for you to attract guys, but I wasn't expecting it so soon" Gretchen teased. Spinelli rolled her eyes. "Very funny Gretch" Spinelli huffed. " I only speak the truth" Gretchen answered. Vince shook his head. "Just ignore him, he flirts with anything that lives and moves" Vince chuckled. "Not very reassuring LaSalle" Spinelli growled. Vince laughed. "I'll keep him in check for you" He chuckled. "Thanks" Spinelli said. T.J still stood glaring to where the boy disappeared. The first bell rang, signally for everyone to start walking to class. "We better get to homeroom" Gretchen announced. The gang nodded and started walking towards their classrooms.T.J stayed slightly behind. The guy who had flirted with Spinelli had put him in a bad mood. He didn't know why and it frustrated him even more. Spinelli noticed T.J's shift in mood almost immediately and fell in step with him. "Hey, what's up? your mood went from 10 to 1 suddenly" Spinelli asked. "It's nothing, it doesn't matter anyway" T.J answered. "If you're going to be Mr. Grump for the rest of the day then it does matter" Spinelli teased. A slight smirk pulled at T.J's lips. Spinelli stared at him as she scrunched her eyebrows in concentration trying to figure him out. "Is this about Jack?" She asked suddenly.

T.J's eyes widened and he jumped slightly. "What?" He asked. "Don't worry Teej, I'd never even consider going out with him. He's not my type" Spinelli reassured. "Then what is your type?" T.J asked. "I don't know yet" She answered as she shrugged. "Besides I don't even know if I want to start dating, seems like such a hassle" Spinelli said. "Now C'mon on or we'll be late for class" Spinelli said as she grabbed T.J's wrist and dragged through the hall to catch up with the rest. A stupid grin spread across T.J face as he followed her willingly. They caught up with Gretchen and Vince outside their homeroom classroom. "Took you two long enough" Vince grunted as he eyed their hands suspiciously. Spinelli quickly let go of T.J's wrist. "Yeah well you know me and my short height, I get lost easily in the crowds" Spinelli said as she chuckled nervously. T.J gave her a grateful look and she gave him a wink. "Next time you should stick with me, since I'm taller then T.J" Vince replied. T.J gave him a confused look. Gretchen eyed both T.J and Vince suspiciously. "I think Spinelli should just stick with me since we're both girls and I'm still taller than both of you" Gretchen said as she grabbed Spinelli's wrist and pulled her inside the classroom. "Whaa..." Spinelli wailed as Gretchen pulled her in.

"What's wrong with you?" Spinelli asked as both of them sat down near the front, typical Gretchen. Gretchen sighed before beckoning Spinelli to lean in closer. Spinelli was very confused but obliged anyway. "I have a hunch that Vince might be jealous of T.J. I wanted to get you out of there before it got more awkward or a full on argument broke out" Gretchen whispered, Spinelli looked at her bewildered. "Why would Vince be jealous of T.J?" Spinelli asked. "Because he likes you and T.J is closer to you" Gretchen answered bluntly. "Gretch if your trying to joke you are not doing a very good job at it" Spinelli laughed nervously."I'm being serious. Vince likes you and so does T.J but he's still oblivious about that" Gretchen said. Spinelli stared at her like Gretchen had grown a second head. "Your telling me that I'm stuck in a freaking cliche love triangle!?" Spinelli whispered yelled. Gretchen sighed but nodded her head. "No...no, no, no!" Spinelli protested. "Trust me, as an observer I know" Gretchen said. "I'll get the truth out of one of them one way or another, will you believe me then?" Gretchen asked. "If you have it recored" Spinelli replied. "Deal" Gretchen said. The second bell rang and the rest of the class piled in. T.J and Vince sat at the desk behind them. "So ladies, any reason you two ditched us?" Vince asked as he leaned himself between Gretchen and Spinelli. Spinelli shrugged. "Girl stuff" Gretchen answered. Vince nodded curtly. "Hey Spinelli, want to shoot some hoops at lunch?" Vince asked. "Sorry Vince, Library committee, duty calls" Spinelli apologized sheepishly. His smile faltered. "Oh...that's okay, maybe another time" He said. "Sure" Spinelli answered as she turned to face the front when the teacher started calling out the roll.

 **Hello, lovely people, I know I've been gone for a long time and I'm really sorry. I'm actually not entirely free yet but I thought writing would relieve some stress and relax me. I swear my teachers are trying to kill me. I got three history essays to write and two projects to finish along with some other homework :( but I really wanted to update one of my stories, so here you go! :)**

 **Love,**

 **Natalie 3 :D**

 **p.s here's a love triangle with Vince and T.J ;) as requested by sailorChiasto, hope you enjoy love :)**


	7. Chapter 7

"Guys shut up or we'll get caught!" T.J hissed. "Thank you captain obvious" Vince hissed back. "Shut it LaSalle, I'm sacrificing you first if we get caught" Spinelli threatened. Vince quickly clamped his mouth shut before he made another smart comment.

"I said it was a bad idea..." Gretchen said as she rolled her eyes. "Gretchen...it's not the time for your lecturing yet..." Spinelli said through gritted teeth as she tried to keep her anger under control.

They always got into sticky situations, trouble just followed them naturally. But they always found a way out of them, no matter how bad the situation. But this...was something way over their heads. And it all started on Halloween...  
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After what seemed like an eternity, Halloween finally came around. The teens walked giddily to school on that crisp last Autumn morning. The teachers decided to go easy on the students, giving out sweets and playing Halloween music, games and movies in class.

With exception to a few teachers of course who believed that they still needed to give out homework and wouldn't waste precious class time on fun Halloween activities. As the school day rolled to an end the fun was only beginning.

As the evening came creeping in slowly, a certain raven head sat at her vanity in her bathroom finishing up the last touches of her make up. Her costume lay discarded to the side ready to be put on. She was discussing...rather loudly on the phone.

"Gretchen I told you already we are not all dressing up as Harry potter characters!" Spinelli exclaimed as she proceeded to smoke out black eyeshadow in the corners of her eye and smudge it down as if she was crying.

Spinelli groaned as Gretchen protested on the other side of the phone. "The time you will see me dressed in a Hogwarts uniform will be the day T.J Detweiler asks me on a date!" Spinelli said as she laughed. She blushed quickly though after Gretchen started teasing her on the other end.

"Oh c'mon Gretch that will only happen in a parallel universe or something" Spinelli said in vain to try to shut her friend up."Look Gretch I'll talk to you later, right now I need to do eyeliner and that requires both hands" Spinelli said as she hung up on her friend.

Spinelli shook her head while smiling. By the time she was finished her make-up she looked as if she was crying blood. Though, that was the whole point of it. She was dressing up as a creepier and darker version of the Mad Hatter.

Most of her costume was black and white with some bright neon colours sticking out here and there. Her white gloves were dipped in fake blood along with the bottom of her layered skirt which ended above her knee. The rest of the costume had small splatters of it here and there.

She had her hair curled and fixed into two pigtails. Her left one was dipped into a neon mint green that faded into a neon aqua blue. Her right pigtail was the same except it faded from a neon orange into a bright red. She had a black top hat with crazy colourful decorations on it. She was also wearing black leather knee high boots with colourful bows going down the lace path as decorations.

Overall she looked beyond creepy and could make any kid go run crying but at the same time looked so enchanting and stunning she could captivate anybody's attention and hold it. Spinelli nodded in approval as she looked at herself in the mirror.

She heard the doorbell ring three times and she knew immediately it was T.J. He's the only one that rings the doorbell three times. It's his way of letting her know it's rushed down the stairs to get to the door but her second brother, Vito, beat her to it.

Vito was only two years older then her but was so dorky you couldn't tell. Besides he was short for his age. Spinelli was only 5'0, Vito on the other hand, was around 5'3/5'4. Joey towered over the two of them at 6'0.

Vito looked as any typical Spinelli would look, olive smooth skin and dark thick hair. Except his hair was lightly curled and messy and his eyes were a bright hazel amber compared to Spinelli's chocolate brown orbs and Joey's warm light caramel brown ones.

"Hey, Teej good to see yo...what the hell are you wearing?!" Vito trailed off as he inspected T.J outfit. He was obviously a pirate but tried to navigate away from the cliche costumes.

He had a black captain's hat with a white feather as decoration. He wore a leather black opened trench coat with a white shirt that wasn't buttoned all the way. He had dark dress pants and dark brown pirate boots. A sword sheath with a fake sword slung from his hip.

"Are you trying to make fun of my once upon a time obsession" Vito said the question more like a statement. T.J burst out laughing. "No, I don't have a death wish" T.J chuckled. "Good but if you're trying to woo Ashie with that, let me tell you she's more of the warlock, shadowhunter and werewolf kind of girl" Vito teased. T.J laughed again. "I'll keep that in mind"T.J teased.

Spinelli decided to make an entrance into the scene at that point. "I think I can make do with a pirate" Spinelli teased. "They are rich after all and own a ship" Spinelli mused. "I taught you well sister" Vito said as he pretended to fake cry. Spinelli rolled her eyes.

"whatever. Go back to fan boying over NaLa or something" Spinelli said.  
Vito gasped as he grabbed at his heart in fake hurt. "It's called NaLu thank you very much!" Vito exclaimed before storming dramatically into the sitting room leaving the two teens staring at him in amusement.

"You really love pushing his buttons don't you?" T.J mused. "Its the only thing keeping me from dying of boredom in this house! Not counting my anime of course but even I need a break from that" Spinelli laughed. T.J grinned along with her."I think I would've gone blind by now if I didn't" Spinelli said.

"I think you would" T.J agreed as he joined in on her laughter. "Now let's go the others are probably already waiting for us" Spinelli said as she grabbed T.J arm and a plastic bag from her hall drawer and rushed out the door.

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The two met up with the group by the old Gordon place, which still stood abounded since 5th grade. "Hey, you two finally made"Vince commented.

He was dressed as a werewolf. His clothes were torn up and splattered in fake blood. They consisted of a white t-shirt, grey jean jacket, dark jeans and some old red tennis shoes. He had fake fangs, yellow contacts, fluffy grey ears and grey furry sideburns.

Vince still had a defensive aura whenever T.J and Spinelli were together but no one dared to question it. Spinelli just ignored it and changed the subject whenever the tension was too thick. "Yeah sorry, Vito slightly slowed us down" Spinelli explained. "The important thing is that they're here" Gretchen said. She was dressed in a Ravenclaw costume, no surprise there. The girls love for Harry Potter started to nearly become an obsession. Scratch that it already was an obsession.

"Are you sure this plan will work T.J?" Gus asked uncertainly. He was dressed as an old-school detective, somehow it really suited him. "My dear Gus, have my plans ever failed?" T.J asked with a smirk.

"Well...none that I can think of" Gus replied. T.J's smirk grew."Exactly" he said. "Let's not be too cocky before the plan is over and done with" Vince commented. T.J looked at him confused. "Vince what's up with you" T.J asked as he examined his friend.

Vince looked away."Nothing, can we just get this over and done with" Vince said. "Now Vincent my dear friend there's nothing to be ashamed of. Fear is a natural feeling to have in these circumstances" Mickey said

He was dressed as a renaissance painter. He had a sketchpad in his left hand and varies small fanny pockets hung from his hips with art supplies. He had a maroon robe draped over his shoulder, some brown tight pants and a cream shirt. He also wore a big maroon beret with a feather.

Vince's head snapped in his direction."I'm not afraid, what gave you that idea?!" Vince defended nervously. The rest of the gang stared at him in concern. "Seriously guys I'm fine! Let's just go and do this" Vince said as he walked off ahead of them. The rest followed suite shortly with slight worry etched on their faces.

 **Hello, my lovely bunnies, long time no see but I'm back now! Sorry for being gone so long but I had two long weeks of exams (just finished them last Friday) and a week before they started I had a writer's block compiled with the stress of school and exams.**

 **But here's a long chapter, I hope you enjoy :)**

 **I don't own Recess (or any other fandom references I mention)**

 **Lots of love,**  
 **Natalie ❤**


	8. Chapter 8

Vince was known for being the sceptic one in the group so it shouldn't be a surprise when he had doubts about this particular prank. But his attitude was to always crack a joke and laugh it off. This time Vince was jumpy and moody, something the gang wasn't used to. This made the other gang members have second thoughts as well, especially Gus.

"Guys maybe we should just go back home and watch Halloween movies" Gus quivered as he followed his friends nervously. "There's always the next Halloween, we also have Easter and April Fools. Along with Christmas and Valentine's. There'll be plenty other occasions to pull this prank" Gretchen tried to persuade.

She didn't like seeing Gus shaking with fear. Also, Vince's unusual behaviour put the prank in danger."Oh, c'mon you guys. This is one of the oldest pranks in the book! Sneaking into a party shouldn't be so hard" T.J exclaimed as they stopped across a modern medium house.

There was an obvious party being held inside as, loud music and excited people could be heard from within the house, most of the house was covered in toilet paper and was decorated in Halloween decorations.

"But this isn't just any random party. We're talking about sneaking into Lawson's and Bob's party. That place will be filled with people older than us, we'll be dead if we get caught!" Vince hissed."That's why we won't get caught" T.J said with a wink. "Where do you get the optimism from Teej?" Vince asked helplessly."It's a natural gift" T.J smirked boyishly showing off his pearly whites.

"Now guys let's go have some fun messing with some teenagers" T.J grinned as he looked at his friends. Although still sceptic they thought they have nothing to lose and of course they trusted T.J and had wholehearted fate in their leader's decisions.

Getting in was probably the hardest since teenagers were swarming everywhere. The front and back door were off limits for obvious reasons. Luckily there was a tree in the front yard they could climb. The windows were locked, unfortunately. That's where Spinelli stepped in with her bobby pin and lock picking skills.

After that, things went down smoothly. The upstairs was surprisingly empty which gave the gang an advantage. They sneaked downstairs quickly while everyone was preoccupied with a movie. Right now the gang was patrolling and mapping out their area. They noted all the possibly exists and of anybody they should especially avoid. All this information was given to Gretchen through their walkie-talkies who recorded it on her Galileo.

The kitchen seemed the empties along with the second sitting room and of course the upstairs."Okay guys, everyone ready to start operation 'Mischief Night'?" T.J whispered as they stood huddled in the kitchen. The gang nodded.

"Remember if you're in trouble, either improvise or alert retreat and I'll inform you when I'm done. Do you guys remember the code?" T.J reminded."Pink" Spinelli said as she gave him a thumbs up."Great, Operation Mischief night is underway" T.J explained as they split up."Gretchen and Vince, you go together. Mickey, you're with me and Gus you go with Spinelli" T.J ordered. The gang nodded and dispersed.

T.J's plan was pretty simple. It involved Lawson's room, some spray paint, glitter and glue. It was probably one of the simplest pranks that could ever be pulled but still would be worth it after seeing Lawson's reaction. While Mickey and T.J took care of the room, Vince and Gretchen kept on eye on the front part of the house while Spinelli and Gus guarded the back part.

Spinelli sneaked around the second living room to get something to drink. She left Gus to guard the kitchen as she didn't trust the boy wondering and sneaking around on his own. The last time he did that it landed them in detention. As she was about to sneak her way back to the kitchen she was stopped by a familiar group of girls.

"Spinelli?" The blonde one asked. Spinelli quickly identified them as the Ashley's. She groaned. She was busted, great. "Like, what are you doing here? I'm pretty sure you weren't invited" Ashley B remarked."How do you know I wasn't"Spinelli tried to keep up her cover.

Ashley A was dressed as a sailor. Her costume was white and black and she had white open toe pumps. Her honey blonde hair was loose and curled. She had make-up on but her red lipstick stood out the most from her outfit. Ashley B, on the other hand, was a devil. Well not literally but some days Spinelli thought she could pass as one.

She was wearing a tight, strapless red dress with a love heart shaped cut top. She had black fishnet tights and red pumps. A red thin transparent piece of material hung from her hips and trailed behind her like a cape. The material was secured to both of her wrists so that when she lifted her arms the material lifted elegantly with her. She had on red lipstick, very dark smokey eyeshadow and red contact lenses. She, of course, had fake red devil horns and a fake red devil tail to finish off her look.

Ashley Q smiled."We helped Robert and Lawson plan the party, including the guest list" Ashley Q giggled."Busted" Spinelli mumbled to herself."Should've known, you guys can't pass up any party" Spinelli said."That's not entirely true, we can't pass up any good parties" Ashley A corrected as she smiled and flipped her hair over her shoulder.

Ashley Q was dressed as a black cat. She had a black sparkly tank top, a black cardigan, some black designer jeans, short black boots and some black cat ears. She had whiskers and a cat's mouth drawn on her face. She also had some green cat eye contacts. Her eyes had a black smokey eyeshadow and she used black lipstick to emphasise her cat mouth.

Ashley T stood by nodding her head in agreement to whatever the Ashley's said. She was dressed as Minnie mouse. She had a cute red polka dot dress along with white socks that had a little red bow at the front. This was paired with some black pumps, a black vest and black mouse ears. She had some hot red-pink lipstick and some smoked out red and black eyeshadow.

"But we won't spill your little secret" Ashley B raised an eyebrow at them in question."What's the catch?" She asked. The Ashley's glanced at each other."Your costume and make-up are enough of a payment" Ashley A said as she looked Spinelli up and down."But if we ever need a favour we'll let you know" Ashley Q said.

"If someone asks just say the Ashley's invited you but if you get caught we won't cover for you" Ashley B said before they left giggling."The Ashley's newfound friendliness is really starting to give me the chills" Spinelli remarked as she dashed back into the kitchen.

Spinelli quickly let T.J know through the walkie-talkie that the Ashley's know that their here but won't tell anyone. This new information seemed to give T.J a boost as he picked up his pace to finish the room.

Unfortunately, at this very moment Gus really needed to pee and in order to get to a bathroom, they had to go through the second and first living room. As they squeezed through the crowd the best they could without drawing attention to themselves, the teenagers decided to start playing karaoke sing-off or dance off's if someone couldn't sing.

As Gus just made it to the hall where the bathroom was, Spinelli wasn't so lucky. She just had to be spotted, a tall Asian dude grabbed her arm and pulled her into the middle of the gathered circle."Think I found ourselves a rookie, how old are you, kid?" The dude asked as he still held her arm while lifting her off the ground slightly.

Spinelli growled at how the guy treated her like she was a minority to him."None of your business...kid" Spinelli sneered as she tore herself free from the guy's grip. The crowd ooh at her comment. The dude held up his arms in defence as he smirked."Wow, girl hide your claws...and fangs. I didn't mean to strike a cord" The dude chuckled.

Spinelli glared at him, he was at least a head taller than her maybe even more."I'm Harry by the way. Nice to meet you" The guy smiled as he held out his hand. Spinelli took it and shook it sceptically. "Ashley" Spinelli replied.

She didn't know if she could trust this guy so she decided to play it safe and give him a fake name. Well technically it wasn't a fake name and she was still being honest with him...just no one ever called her it."Well, Ashley, it's nice to meet you,you're definitely a spunky one" Harry grinned. he seemed to have a grin glued to his face.

Spinelli smiled back, the guy didn't seem all that bad but she still couldn't put her guard down."Maybe you could use that spunk in our little karaoke sing-off" Harry said. Spinelli's smile faltered."I can't sing" Spinelli said.

Harry rolled his eyes."I'll be the judge of that" Harry said handing her a microphone. Spinelli stared at it hesitantly. Harry smiled."Look if you're really that bad after you sing the first verse, we can switch to a dance off" Harry encouraged.

Spinelli was still sceptical."I mean...unless...you're scared" Harry trailed off with a smirk. Spinelli's eyes quickly filled with a determined fire as he said those words."Those are the last words you ever want to say to me" Spinelli growled as she grabbed the mic.

"But if I'm going to sing, I'm picking the song. I don't want you giving me some girly garbage to sing" Spinelli smirked."What!? but I thought all girls loved one direction" Harry teased. Spinelli was about to scold him until she coped on that he was teasing and she smirked back at him."You're going down, Smiley!" Spinelli announced."Smiley?" Harry questioned with yet another grin.

"Yeah because you're always grinning" Spinelli teased. He smirked."Whatever pretty face, don't get too cocky. Your the one that claims she can't sing" Harry remarked."Yeah but if singing doesn't work I'll beat your ass 100% in a dance-off" Spinelli boasted."Oh! I see we have a dancer? well, let's see what you got" Harry smirked.

 **Hello, lovely bunnies. I hope you enjoy this chapter :) Jeez I never planned for the Halloween part to be so long hahaha. It's probably going to be 2 more parts before I'm finished with it. I have to finish off this sing-off/dance battle with Spinelli and then move on to some Vince and T.J drama.**

 **VintageVixen66: I didn't really know when her birthday would be so I just went along and used my favourite number as her date of birth :D I figured Spinelli's the youngest because I think I remember hearing from someone that she was the youngest as well as I read a post breaking down the gangs star signs, Spinelli seemed to be youngest ranked from that but I'm not 100% sure if she is. Unfortunately, I won't be able to include the laser Tag in this story :( But I'm planning on writing a one-shot collection fanfic to fill in blanks between this and the sequel to this so I might include it there ;)  
**

 **If you guys want to suggest some song choices for Spinelli and Harry to sing and to dance to, be free to do so :)**

 **I don't own Recess - Though I do own Harry, He isn't technically Harry Shum Jr but he was the inspiration behind it :)**

 **Love, Natalie 3**


	9. Chapter 9

T.J furrowed his eyebrows in concentration as he swiped the brush back and forth across the wall."Okay nearly done big guy, just have to add the writing and glitter" T.J announced as he glanced down at Mickey from atop his shoulder."Very well my dear T.J" Mickey said.

"Great, now can you pass me the red paint?" T.J asked. Mickey reached down and grabbed the can of paint along with a new brush. While also holding on to T.J to make sure he didn't fall off in the process. Just as T.J was about to dip the brush into the red paint, his walkie-talkie crackled to life."Crazy Monkey King?" A voice said.

"What is it Madame Fist?" T.J asked as he recognised Spinelli's voice."The Ashley's know about our presence" Spinelli informed. Mickey and T.J gave each other a look."But they promised not to rat on us" Spinelli quickly added."What's the catch?" T.J asked. He knew the Ashley's long enough to know there was nothing for free from them, well except those wrestling tickets they gave them in fourth grade.

" I owe them a favour, but its okay everything is under control" Spinelli reasurred. T.J paused to think the situation over."Okay, thanks for the heads up. Over" T.J said as he put his walkie-talkie away.

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Since all walkie-talkies are connected, Vince and Gretchen also heard the news. "We better keep an eye on the Ashleys just in case" Vince said. "Agreed" Gretchen replied.

"Maybe we should find Spinelli, just to see if she's okay" Vince stuttered as he scratched behind his neck, a nervous habit. Gretchen raised an eyebrow. "And Gus?" She teased. "Yeah, him too" Vince nodded as he turned his head away in embarrassment.

Gretchen suddenly became aware that this was a perfect chance to prove to Spinelli that Vince liked her. So she set up her Galileo for recording and hid him away safely.

"You care for her don't you?" Gretchen asked. "Of course I do she's one of my best friends" Vince exclaimed. "Just a best friend?" Gretchen smirked. Vince blushed. "Yeah, what else would she be to me. Besides every friend cares about each other" Vince replied. "But you like her as more than a friend" Gretchen prodded as she crossed her arms across her chest.

Vince sweated. Most times he was grateful of how smart Gretchen was, but sometimes it terrified him. This was one of these times. "Is it that obvious?" Vince asked nervously.

"Honestly not to an average eye. But we both know my skills are beyond average" Gretchen giggled. "That I can't deny" Vince chuckled.

"Your temper with T.J gave you away" Gretchen said. Vince sighed. "I don't mean to be mean to him, he's my best friend!" Vince protested. "But" Gretchen said as she encouraged him to keep speaking.

"I can't help it! Him and Spinelli are so close it makes my blood boil and its so obvious that he likes her as well. Even though he's still in denial" Vince grunted as he stuffed his hands in his pockets.

Gretchen nodded sadly in understanding, she felt sorry for Vince. "Besides, it's plain to see Spinelli likes him too. She's just as oblivious to it as him"Vince sighed.

"It'll be okay Vince, the right girl will come along eventually" Gretchen reassured. Vince sighed dejected. "She already did, but I missed her" Vince mumbled. Gretchen hugged him. "There'll be another" she reasurred. He smiled at her. "Thanks Gretch"

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 **I'm back! Don't have a very good excuse for not updating in so long except that I was too lazy to do it.**

 **Anyway hope you still enjoyed!**

 **Love,**  
 **Natalia ❤**


	10. Chapter 10

Their moment was interrupted though as a thump was heard. They turned towards the source to find Randall splattered face first on the floor. He got up with a wicked grin on his face. "This is moist! Wait til Lawson finds out about this!" Randall exclaimed.

But before he could run off, Vince ran at him and tackled him to the floor. "Call Mickey, tell him we caught a snitch. Also get Spinelli" Vince groaned as he struggled to hold Randall as he squirmed underneath him.

Gretchen nodded as she whipped out her walkie-talkie. "Crazy Monkey King! We need Winger Dinger at our wing. Code blue. Repeat. Code blue" Gretchen whisper yelled through the device.

"Roger that" T.J replied. "Madame fist we need you here as well" Gretchen said. Silence. "Madame fist?" Gretchen asked panic rising in her voice. Silence. "Spinelli!?" Gretchen asked more urgently but there was still no reply.

 **Back to Spinelli**

Because of the cat calls Spinelli couldn't hear the walkie-talkie. "I'll let you go first since it was your idea" Spinelli said as she stepped back to allow Harry more space. Harry shrugged but stepped up anyway.

He had a skim through the song choices before settling on cool from west side story (look up Harry shum cool on yt to get an idea of Harry's dancing). Spinelli raised an eyebrow but didn't comment. Only reason she recognized the song was because of Mickey. She lost a dare once and had to spend a whole day with Mickey watching musicals. Harry started singing and got into the song quickly adding dancing into his performance as well.

Spinelli had to admit he wasn't bad, actually, he was pretty amazing. She made a mental note to ask him if he takes dance lessons. As Harry finished his performance he slid down on his knees for the big finish. The crowd surrounding them cheered and clapped as he stood up and bowed.

"Your turn" he smirked and stepped back. Spinelli rolled her eyes. As she skimmed through the songs nothing was really catching her eye. Most of them were cliche pop songs or musical numbers.

"I guess I'll have to go with this one" Spinelli sighed as she clicked on Lean on by major lazer (look up leon on live love party on yt to see the dance). Spinelli hadn't quit dancing with Mickey after the recital in fourth grade but as well as ballet she moved onto other types of dancing including jazz, hip hop etc. She was a zumba instructor for younger kids along with Kate, a girl she befriended at dance. As she finished her performance she was short of breath and sweating badly. Harry looked like he didn't break a sweat.

"Not bad kid, I'm impressed. You take dance lessons?" Harry asked as he handed her a cup of water. "Yeah, do you?" Spinelli asked as she inhaled the cup of water. "Woah slow down or you'll choke!" Harry chuckled.

"Lawson!? Intruders! It's T.J and his gang!" A voice yelled, as a hunched over red head barged through the crowd. Spinelli froze in shock. "Who the hell is T.J?" Harry asked. Spinelli quickly ditched Harry as she made her way to find her friends. Gus was satisfyingly leaving the bathroom as Spinelli rushed passed him and grabbed his arm.

"Hey! What on earth is going!?" Gus whined as Spinelli pulled him behind her. Just as she turned the corner to the staircase she ran into Gretchen and Mickey. "Spinelli!" They exclaimed. "I just saw Randall screaming bloody murder through the whole party. How does he know we're here!?" Spinelli hissed. Gretchen and Mickey exchanged a look. "Where's Vince?" Spinelli asked suddenly getting sidetracked.

"Upstairs with T.J since we needed Mickey down here to hold down Randall" Gretchen explained. "Then how did he escape!?" Spinelli asked still holding Gus's wrist and trashing him about like a rag doll.

"Alas, our foe tricked me with the deliciousness that is a winger dinger" Mickey cried as he lifted his hands in the air. Spinelli huffed. "Well let's get the boys and get out of here!" Spinelli said as she trudged her way upstairs, still dragging poor Gus.

 **Two chapters in one day, yay! Maybe I'll make it three I'll see.**

 **This is my way of making up for not updating in so long.**

 **Hope you enjoyed!**

 **Love,**  
 **Natalia ❤**


	11. Chapter 11

"Hey you nearly done?" Vince stammered as he entered lawson's room. "Nearly" T.J replied as he was emptying a can of glitter over his masterpiece."Tender" T.J smirked as he cleaned his hands against his trousers."Looks wicked" Vince smiled. "Doesn't it?" T.J stated as he grinned toothly.

"Crazy monkey king?" a voice squeaked through the walkie talkie. "Winger Dinger? What's up?" T.J asked.

"I might have by an accident let randall escape..." Mikey trailed off. "Mikey!" both Vince and T.J shouted, codenames being completely forgotten. T.J sighed."It's okay big guy. We just need to get out, quickly" T.J said rubbing his temples.

"If it was Spinelli she wouldn't have let him go" Vince mumbled but it was loud enough for T.J to hear. "What are you saying? That Mickey's not good enough?" T.J asked. Vince rolled his eyes."All I'm saying is that she would've done it better that's all" Vince said as he clenched his jaw.

"Okay, when you were being stingy to me I could deal with that. But now your turning on Mickey and that's not okay. What's up with you?" T.J said as he stared at his best friend in confusion."Nothing" Vince huffed as he crossed his arms. "It's not nothing Vince!" T.J yelled.

A silence overtook the room before T.J broke it.

"Vince...I'm your best friend you know you can tell me anything" T.J said as he took a step closer to Vince. Vince's scoffed. "Best friend? Yeah right" Vince sneered. T.J was taken aback. "What's that supposed to mean?" T.J said, hurt evident in his voice.

"We all know who's your best friend" Vince taunted. T.J still stared at him confused.

"You and Spinelli are joined at the hip. Have you ever thought about sharing? She's not just yours you know!" Vince yelled. T.J's blue eyes widened in shock as he realized what was bothering Vince."Your jealous? But why?" T.J asked as he searched Vince's face for an answer. "Maybe because I have a crush on her!" Vince yelled.

While Vince was yelling that the door was kicked open as Spinelli stepped in still dragging a poor Gus, with Mickey and Gretchen close behind her. An awkward silence took over as Vince looked at the petite girl in shock. "How much of that did you hear?" Vince asked cautiously.

"Just that last line were you yelled you had a crush on someone" Spinelli said as she raised an eyebrow and smirked. T.J gave Vince a look saying they will finish this conversation another time. Before T.J could utter a word Spinelli bet him to it.

"Let's go people, randall's running around the whole place screeching at everyone that we're here" Spinelli said. But before she could turn to go back down something stopped her, a voice to be exact.

"Dorkwieler you are going to pay for ever stepping foot into my house!" the voice clearly belonged to no other than Erwin Lawson. The gang's (mostly T.J's) frenemy and rival since their elemantry school days.

And that's how they ended up where they did. Cramped in Lawson's sisters mini walk in closet.

"Guys shut up or we'll get caught!" T.J hissed. "Thank you captain obvious" Vince hissed back. "Shut it LaSalle, I'm sacrificing you first if we get caught" Spinelli threatened. Vince quickly clamped his mouth shut before he made another smart comment.

"I said it was a bad idea..." Gretchen said as she rolled her eyes. "Gretchen...it's not the time for your lecturing yet..." Spinelli said through gritted teeth as she tried to keep her anger under control.

They always got into sticky situations, trouble just followed them naturally. But they always found a way out, no matter how bad the situation.

But this...was something way over their heads. If lawson found them they were as sure as dead.

"Guys we need to get out" Vince whisper yelled as he peeked his head out from the closet. "Well, we need to go now if we want to get out in time" Gretchen replied. T.J was the first to get out. He crawled under the window and stealthy lifted it open. The rest followed. Mickey being the first to get out followed by Gretchen. Vince slid down after them without any problem. Gus followed slowly but surely, slipping down the last bit but luckily Mickey caught him.

"Go on Spin, your turn" T.J encouraged. Spinelli swung her legs out the window ledge, she froze as she stared down at the steep roof. Mickey noticed and started waving to encourage her to come down. The italian beauty wouldn't move as she stayed frozen in fear. "Spin?" T.J whispered as he looked at her in confusion. Spinelli's eyes reflected a emotion T.J rarely seen in the fearless girl. Her dark brown orbs that usually shined with fire and feist were reflected with pure fear.

T.J furrowed his eyebrows and reached out grasping Spinelli's hand in his own. "Hey, are you okay?" T.J whispered. The girls fear filled eyes turned to look into T.J's concerened blue orbs. She squeezed his hand back before sliding down the roof. It took T.J a minute but as he heard the yells of Lawson coming up the stairs he quickly slid out the window as well.

"Go, go, go!" T.J yelled. The screams of Lawson were heard down the streets as the gang ran off laughing back home to use up the rest of the night piggying out on junk food and binge watching movies.

 **-**  
 **Hey guys, I know I've been gone for a long time but I just got busy with life and had a writer's block ? I'm sorry for not updating in so long. I had this up on Wattpad for ages but I kept forgetting to update it here, I'm really sorry.**

 **Ironically I have the ending of this story written out but I might change it depending on how the story goes XD**

 **I would like to thank PioneerGravity for inspiring me and giving me more ideas for my story, she's a reader on wattpad that has been a huge support and given me so much motivation I really can't thank her enough for her support (now I don't know the users gender so I apologize if your a male :P). I can't express how much I appriciate that, thank you ❤**

 **Now I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for reading**

 **Love,**  
 **Natalia xx❤**


	12. Chapter 12

The big prank the gang pulled on Halloween had spread like wildfire through out the school. As the gang stepped through the school doors on Monday morning they were bombarded by congratulations and pats on the back.

"How do they know?" Gus questioned as another jock who wouldn't give him a second look a week ago slapped his back in approval sending the poor boy tumbling forward. If it wasn't for Vince, Gus would probably be sticking his glasses together with sellotape yet again.

"Randall" Spinelli hissed rolling her eyes in the process. "Or Lawson" Vince added. T.J sighed heavily. He took pride in all his pranks he pulled. But he had to admit this one was one of his weakest ones. Considering the people who weren't meant to find out, found out. Lawson for sure will give him hell for the rest of the year.

"Actually like neither" a voice spoke. The gang turned to find the Ashley's, Ashley A with her bright pink phone in one hand and her other hand posistioned sassily on her hip. "Quiet a masterpiece Detweiler, like really. The pink looks like so gorgeous" Ashley A smirked as she showed the gang her phone. "Personally I loved the glitter" Ashley T giggled.

On the screen proudly displayed on her instagram, a picture of a grey wall covered in glow in the dark neon pink and the words; Happy Halloween, from your favourote people in the world, written in bold red letters covered in rainbow glittter. With lawson in the front trying to get the camera away. His face as red as T.J's hat. From anger or embarrassment? maybe even both.

"He's going to give me hell for the rest of the year" T.J expressed his concern as he tried to hold back his laughter. "Don't be silly Teej, it's Lawson. The worst he can do is pick you last for his team during gym" Spinelli snorted as she crossed her arms across her chest."He might be older but his intelligence hasn't risen" Gretchen added in. The gang shared a chuckle. "That I can like totally agree on Grundler" Ashley B. "All we have to say" Ashley A paused. "Scandalous!" the Ashley's cackled before strutting away.

"There's some things you can't change, huh?" Gus sighed.

Spinelli got used to coming home to an empty house . Her parents worked long hours since last year, Joey was out of state at the moment for work reasons and Vito was off on a Ski trip with his class. She did have Sparky and Waffle so she wasn't completely lonely.

She had Sparky since third grade, he was an offspring of her Great Aunt's Ashley's favourite sled dog. He was a black and white husky with one brown eye and one blue eye. As for Waffle, they got him last year. He is a brown and white cavalier king charles spaniel. A total midget compared to Sparky.

They were asked to mind Waffle for a week but after he ate some wet fresh cut grass he became sick and had to be rushed to hospital. Her mother stayed by his side and afterwords the dog refused to leave her side. Her mother didn't have the heart to give him away so the owner agreed to sell him, they already had a second dog and were actually looking to sell one of them.

The two rushed to greet her as she stepped through the door. She noticed her dad must be home early as she saw his car parked outside. She heard voices in the kitchen, they were pretty loud so she assumed that they didn't hear her come in. She stepped around a big pile of luggage that lay by the wall in the hallway.

That's weird, no holidays were coming up for family to drop by? maybe something happened? They usually were the ones to go visit family as their house was too small to hold all their relatives.

"Hun I don't know if it's fair to spring this onto to her like that. It's a big thing to take in" she recognized her father's voice. "We can't hide this! we should've told her sooner. She will get used to it, she's old enough to understand" Her mothers voice broke through. Spinelli stood at the kitchen door evasdropping. She assumed they were talking about her but it wasn't too clear.

She held her breath as she was worried the tiniest noise will give her away, as Sparky and Waffle busied themselves sniffing her. There was a pause and she heard her father give out a sigh. "Look if it's too much trouble I'm sure aunt Maggie or uncle John will take me in. Since I enrolled into Spiro T. Agnew, you were the first people that popped up in my head" a new voice spoke, it was female but it was definetely not her mothers...

 **Dun, dun, DUNNNNNN! plot twist...I hope anyway XD**

 **Did anyone noticed what I did with Sparky XD virtiually cookie for anyone who gusses first :P**

 **also I wanted to point out that I'm not sticking to years and what was around and what wasn't during that time (most of you probably figured that out), sorry. I might do it in another story but I wanted to modrnise this one I hope that discourage you from reading the story.**

 **Hope you enjoyed :)**

 **Love ~ Natalia**


	13. Chapter 13

Spinelli's face twisted in even more confusion. Who was that? she never heard her voice before. Was she some far away twice removed cousin or something?

"Don't be silly honey, that's way too much hassle. Since your're already here you might as well stay" her mother soothed. That was the moment, Sparky decided he was not getting enough attention and so sprung onto Spinelli like one of those clowns from a music box and toppled her through the kitchen door face first into the floor.

She was pretty sure her mom had a heart attack judged by the scream she let out. But since her face was molded into the tile floor and Sparky decided to make Spinelli's back his new bed she couldn't really look up to be sure. "I think we need to put Sparky on a diet" Spinelli groaned out as she lifted her head and looked up.

"Ashley Funicello Spinelli!" Her mother yelled, she looked ready to burst into tears. Her father just stood there still recovering from shock. "Yes?" Spinelli asked casually, like having a huge husky laying on top of you was a regular thing. "How much did you hear?" Her mother asked her hands on her hips.

She's going to start scolding...Spinelli thought. "Enough to know you have something to tell me" Spinelli answered. Her mother puffed out her cheecks. Here it comes...

"You shouldn't have been evesdropping, it's so unlady-like Ashley. I have raised you better then that. I'm so disapointed in you" her mother ranted. There it is! Spinelli smiled to herself.

"How do you know we were talking about you pookie?" Her dad cut in as the shock was replaced with nervousness. Spinelli rolled her eyes the best she could in the positions she was in. "Please just cut it out and tell me" Spinelli moaned. Her parents exchanged a look."First let's get you up" Her dad said as he lifted her up from under Sparky.

Sparky opened his eyes in confusion as the warmth of Spinelli's back was gone and replaced by the cold tile floor. He looked up in a daze and whined slightly. "Sparky!" her dad scolded. Defeated the dog lifted itself begrundingly and with a low tail sauntered out the kitchen clearly unhappy that his human water bottle was taken from him. Her dad shook his head. "I swear, that dog" her dad sighed and decided to leave it at that.

Spinelli snorted at her dog's common dorky behaviour. "So?" Spinelli asked. "Maybe it'll be easier if I say it..." the same female voice from before interjected. Spinelli almost completely forgot about her.

The girl stepped forward from behind her mother. She was a head taller then Spinelli and had a thin petite agile body. Spinelli was stunned, she was absolutly gorgeous. Not the ashley type of gorgeous but the natrual type. The girl had smooth olive skin and almond shape chocolate brown eyes. She had thick black hair that curled elegantly at the end. Spinelli had to admit her heart sank a little and she felt a little self conscience in her presence. The girl just screamed proper and girly.

"I'm Renee. You must be Ashley" the girl said holding out her hand. "Actaully, I go by Spinelli" Spinelli said as she shook Renee's hand, which felt like as if she touched a cloud. "Sorry my bad" she giggled. As Spinelli looked at her a bit more she realized the girl really had the potential to be a Spinelli. Dark hair, olive skin, full lips, and dark big eyes. "So are you some kind of distant cousin I never met?" Spinelli was always known for being blunt and straight to the point. Renee looked a bit surprised for a second. "Not exactly" she said as she played with her fingers.

"I'm actually your twin sister" Renee smiled weakly as she shifted from foot to foot. Spinelli's eyes could probably spread out over America twice with how big they widned. "My what!?" Spinelli yelled after a moment as she jumped back slightly from the girl.

"Guys april's fools is not for another six months!" Spinelli yelled as she glared at her parents. "It's true pookie" her father said defeated. He knew his daughters temper, this might not end well. "Mom!" Spinelli turned to her mom in desperation. She just a gave her an apologetic look.

"How? What!? Why do I only find out know!" Spinelli growled her temper rising. "Pookie. We were thrilled when we had you both but we were not on good terms when it came to money" her dad started. "The first house we had didn't have enough room for all four of you and feeding you all was a challenege" her dad continued.

"Then your aunt Nancy stepped in. She just had a miscarrige and she offered to take one of you to live with her down in Baltimore. She had the conditions since she was expecting. It was not an easy choice, believe me Ashley. It wasn't" Her mother grabbed her arm in comfort.

"We did what we thought would be best for your future" Her father cut in as he stood to join them. Spinelli stood for a moment taking it in. She then ripped her arm from her mom's grasp.

"How could you! It's not even the giving away, I can understand what position you were in. But not telling me for 13 years!? That I had a sister all the way in a completely different state! What was even the point of hiding it? Ashamed that you weren't able to provide for us at the time? That I or someone else would judge you for your decision? Was that it?" Spinelli yelled, desperatly trying to make sense of it.

"Ashl-" Spinelli cut her mother off before she could finish. "Why does this family have so many secrets!? Is it really that hard to tell the truth? Is it really that much to ask for?" Spinelli screamed before turning and running upstairs to her room and locking the door.

She slid down her door and sat on the floor. She noticed drops fall onto her wood floor and she touched her cheeck in confusion. She was crying. She felt the silent tears streak down her cheecks as her breathing becaming ragged. She curled into a ball and done something she hadn't done in a long time.

She let herself cried.

 **...drama! lol, let me know what you think of this new discovery ;P**

 **hope you enjoyed :)**

 **Love~ Natalia**


	14. Chapter 14

Spinelli half comprehended the knock on her door as she swallowed in the much needed air and let out ragged sobs. "Look I'm probably the last person you want to talk to right now but I can understand how you feel. We're particularally in the same boat" Renee coaxed gently.

Spinelli debated wether to move. It was one wrapping her head around her parents behaviour. It was compeletly different coming to terms you have a twin sister that you should let into your life and get to know.

"Could I please come in so we could talk about this?" Renee pleaded. She tried pushing open the door again and to her surprise it opened with no problem. "Spinelli?" Renee called out as she cautioulsly stepped into the room. As she looked around and took a peek into Spinelli's bathroom she realized the girl was gone.

Spinelli let her feet guide her as she walked. In the corner of her mind she knew exactly were she was going but consciously she was a complete sobbing mess that was stumbling around as if she was drunk trying to make anything out from her blurry vision that only got worse as more tears came.

She wasn't surprised to find herself on the deteweilers porch as she rang the doorbell and waited for the door to open. T.J's parents were off on a conference out of town so Becky was left in charge of minding T.J. She heard the padding of feet and T.J's voice calling out that he'll be there in a moment. As he opened the door he immediatly recognized Spinelli so without any closer inspection he left the door wide open and trotted off into the kitchen.

"Good thing your here Spin. I'm being beaten horribly and I could really use an extra player" T.J said as Spinelli followed him slowly into the kitchen were T.J proceeded to take out a ready pizza from the oven."Becky's coming back with ice cream and sweets later on so your're more then welcome to sta-" He stopped mid sentence as he glanced at Spinelli and finally noticed something was off.

She didn't look up. She had an arm wrapped around her torso hugging herself. And as she reached out her other hand to cover her mouth to muffle the sob she let out, T.J was by her side in a flash embracing her. She held herself back still trying to put up the tough girl attitude.

"Spin. Just let it out" T.J said sternly as he clenched his jaw. That was all for Spinelli as she clung onto him tighter and let herself properly cry without holding back. T.J hugged her back and shut his eyes. He never, ever in the time he knew Spinelli heard her cry as she did in that moment. The girl sounded desperate, as if she was being put through horribly pain and just wanted it to end.

T.J led her into the sitting room and sat down with her still tangled in his arms. It took an hour before Spinelli's loud wails turned into quiet sniffiling. T.J's heart that was racing in concern started to calm down when her sobs subsided. It was heart breaking, he was not used to seeing this side of Spinelli.

"You want to tell me what happened?" T.J asked gently as he played with her hair in a loving manner. Spinelli sighed. "Can we leave it til later? I think I need a nap. My head and stomache are killing me" Spinelli mumbled as she nuzzled into his neck.

T.J's felt a blush creep up his neck at her affection. "S-s-s-sure, I can help you up to my bed and leave you be-" T.J cursed himself for stuttering as he sat up and prepared to help her get up with him but she stopped him. "No!" Spinelli said as she hugged him tighter. "I don't want to move...and...I don't want you to go either" She mumbled and cursed herself for blushing as well.

But in that moment she was too exhasuted to care about reputation. She just wanted to rest and not be alone. That whole fiasco left her feeling betrayed and lonely. She only wanted to feel some type of affcection. T.J always made her feel wanted. She knew he cared and would always be there for her. He didn't have to say anything. His presence alone calmed her down. His body heat and listening to his heart was enough to lull her to sleep. She did notice his heart was beating unusually fast but in the state she was in she ignored the detail.

"O-okay" T.J replied gently with a stutter. Half of him was shocked. This was so unlike Spinelli. He was questioning if he might be dreaming again. While the other side of him was thrilled. His heart was racing, his stomache was doing flips and his face felt unusually hot. His mind was racing with questions but he pushed them to the back of his mind.

They could wait. Spinelli was the most important thing at the moment. If this was what she needed, he would not hesitate to follow. He would do anything for the girl if it was something she really wanted. In all honesty, he had no problem to go along. He had to admit he actaully...enjoyed it. It felt natrual to...how did Becky describe it in her diary?...to cuddle! that's the word.

So the two young teens shut their minds and let themselves relax and enjoy the moment before reality hit them and they would got back to denying any growing feelings they had for each other.

"She's gone" Renee said as she trotted downstairs. Her eyebrows were furrowed in worry. It's true she didn't know Spinelli at all. But she felt a responsibility that she had to look out for her and be there for her when she was going through tough times. Probably a sister instinct or something.

"Gone!?" Flo exclaimed and exchanged a look with Bob. The two didn't say anything for a moment. They didn't have. Years of being married and in love let them communicate just by looking at each other. They let out a sigh and relaxed back into the couch. Renee looked at them slightly confused. "I'm not questioning parenting but you don't seem to be too worried that she's gone. Shouldn't we go look for her?" Renee asked as she came around the couch to face them.

"She's with T.J. She'll be back when she's ready" Flo replied. Renee was still confused. "Who's T.J? her boyfriend?" She questioned. Flo rolled her eyes. "You would think so but no" She replied. "He's one of her best friends. He lives two doors down. Really great kid. We know the family since the two went to kindergarten together" Bob explained.

"If she ends up staying the night there we're not too worried. I'll give their house a ring in an a few minutes to check" Flo smiled. Renee still looked a bit on the edge. "Renee, trust us. T.J will not let a hair fall off my pookie's head" Bob smiled and chuckled lightly to himselve.

Renee let out a sigh and sat down on the couch."They must be pretty close if you trust him that much. Sounds like someone needs to open theses two's eyes about how they feel" she smiled. "Uh huh" the Spinelli's agreed and even the dogs gave a bark of agreement.

 **I got the feels? did you get the feels? I hope you got the feels! cause this chapter was just LOADED with fluff!**

 **I didn't really know how to end it but I hope it's okay :P I was so happy to finally write a big T.J and Spinelli moment :D let m know what you thought ;)**

 **As always, I hope you enjoyed**

 **Love -**

 **Natalia**


	15. Chapter 15

"We're here, c'mon sleepy heads" Vito hollered as he slid open the car door. The six group of friends begrudingly clambered out of the six seater van. "Was that really 6 hours? it felt shorter" Gretchen remarked as they stretched. "You were finishing all the winter break assignments Gretch, you were too busy to notice" Spinelli grumbled. She pulled her fluffy pokemon blanket closer to her as the wind passed by.

"Let's go help with the luggage" Mickey suggested feeling the need to do something after such a long car journey. "I'll help" Renee's voice chimed in as she appread from around the van. "That would be wonderful, thank you Renee" Mickey smiled as he made his way over to the boot. Renee stopped briefly debating wether to say something to Spinelli, who in response turned her head away and ignored her. The twin relucantly followed Mickey glancing back at Spinelli.

T.J rolled his eyes at the exchange. "C'mon Spin she didn't do anything wrong, you shouldn't be ignoring her" T.J pleaded. "It's not that easy to accept!" Spinelli argued. Ever since Spinelli found out about her twin, she's been having a hard time accepting the truth. She barely spoke to her parents until absolutly necessary and Renee was also getting the silent treatment.

Her friends were shocked to say the least when they found out the news but hadn't had any trouble accepting Renee. The problem was the awkward silences that endured when they tried to include Renee AND Spinelli in. "But Spinelli...she is your sister, maybe you should..." Gus tried to say but after getting a classic Spinelli glare he decided against continuing. "Let's go help Mickey with that luggage" Vince suggested knowing well they tried having this conversation over a hundred times with Spinelli and they couldn't get anywhere.

T.J noticed Spinelli wasn't following."Spin it's just helping with lugaggage" T.J coaxed. Spinelli looked up at him with pleading eyes."Nuh-uh not those eyes, I'll make sure you won't get Vince's infamous hot chocolate if you don't help" T.J teased."You can't do that!" Spinelli gasped but her eyes shined with laughter.

"Watch me, VIINNNCEEEE!" T.J pretended to shout as he turned to walk away. "Okay I'll help!" Spinelli laughed as she caught up with him. "Was that so hard?" T.J teased. Spinelli jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow as she mumbled a "Shut up" at him in return earning a loud laugh.

"Hurry up you two it's freezing!" Gus whined. "Forget about the cold, I need hot chocolate!" Mickey gasped as he was already half way up to the house carrying majority of the luggage. The two laughed as they grabbed their luggage and followed.

The house was pretty big, made to look like a cosy wooden cabin with a garage on the very bottom and a wodden winded staircase leading to the first floor. The front door was already opened for the teens when they got to the top and they happily shuffled into the warmth.

"Wow you guys are slow" Vito laughed as he poked his head into the hallway. "Your welcome for carrying your luggage" Spinelli taunted as she threw a bag at Vitto hitting him face first. "OW!" Vitto yelled as he stumbled back. The group burst into laughter. "MY NOSE!" Vitto's wails of despair could be heard throughout the whole house as he searched for some ice. This made the group laugh even harder.

"Ashley! you could've really hurt him!" Mrs Spinelli squeled as she appeared in the kitchen entrance. Spinelli's laughter immediatly died upon hearing her mother. Spinelli's mom was desperate to get her talking to the point she became irritated at the smallest things. "You should really think once in a while" Flo scolded before making her way over to check on Vito.

Spinelli gritted her teeth as she bit back her usual sarcastic comment. T.J gently placed his hand on her shoulder to calm her down. "Let's go into the living room" T.J suggested. The rest agreed and Spinelli lead them into the door on the right. The living room was spacious with a big stone fireplace and a built in flat screen TV. It had cream walls and was well lit up. A big L leather couch stood aginst the wall with two matching armchairs against a long window.

"Ah isn't it my favourite niece" A man strode over to hug Spinelli. "Hey John" Spinelli hugged back. He was tall and built. He looked to be in his late thrities early forty's. Gave off the impression of a stern man with a lot of patience. "God you've grown, you started middle school this year right?" John said. "Yeah, sorry I couldn't come this summer. The vacation in Italy took longer than I thought" Spinelli succeeded in sounding casual.

But her friends knew how she really felt about the unexpected plans. Another one of her parents scheme's as Spinelli likes to call it. They kept her in Italy for majority of the summer, they were only meant to go for three weeks at most but they stayed for majority of the three months.

"Ah don't worry, I know how your mother is. I had to grow up with her" John winked causing Spinelli to smile. The man turned to look at the gang. "These must be the infamous gang of friends I heard so much about" he smiled wildly as he looked down at them. "Welcome to Tennesee" John greeted. "Thank you for the invite" T.J spoke on behalf the group. "T.J I'm pressuming?" John asked as he shook the young boys hand. "Yes sir" T.J replied. Without even knowing the man for long he already felt a great respect towards him.

"My rules are simple; don't go out without someone who knows their way around, the horses are off limits to ride unless with someone who knows what their doing, respect and listen. Clear?" John asked. the gang all nodded in understanding."Good" John smiled. "When do we get to go riding?" Gretchen asked. "Good question Ms Grundler, good question indeed" John said. "It's too late to set you up now and show you the basics. But tomorrow after breakfast I think will work, sound good?" John asked. The gang nodded in excitment.

"Spin, Gordy's out with the horses and he was planning on going for a ride. If your up for it he won't have a problem with you tagging along" John said as he made his way over to one of the armchair's, the gang decided to plop on the couch. "I think I'm too tired to ride but I would like to say hi to Twister" Spinelli said. "Ha, Gordy won't be too pleased" John laughed.

"I'll say Hi to him as well" Spinelli rolled her eyes. "Where's dad, Joey and aunty Beth?" Spinelli asked before she left. "Your aunt is showing them the pool we've been working on this summer, all her project of course but majority of the work was done by me. Don't tell her I said that" John warned. Spinelli nodded in understanding before leaving.

"Is it okay if I used the kitchen? we're itiching for a hot chocolate" Vince asked. The gang nodded eagarly in agreement. "Only if I also get a cup" John joked. "No problem" Vince laughed as he got up and headed into the kitchen. "Twister is Spinelli's horse, right?" Gus asked. "Yeah, no other horse but Twister. The two got a lot of history with each other" John said as he made himself comfortable in the armchair.

"Did you buy him for her?" Mickey asked. "Funny story, It wasn't the intention at the start" John laughed. "He was a rescue horse. I took him in to nurse him. When Spinelli came to see him for the first time at 10 I had given up, he was a nightmare and he didn't seem to want to get better. The horse was a goner for me. But not for Spinelli. With the help of Gordy she nursed him back to health. Mentally and physically. She's still in the middle of training him so he can still be a hassle and a bit unpredictable. He's a lot better than he was though" John smiled fondly.

"They must be close" T.J smiled. "It's a struggle to get her away, if she could she would sleep in the stables" John laughed and the group joined. "Her mother still has a distaste for that horse, believes he's out to hurt her daughter. But Flo was always a worrier" John said. "Her mother's opinions never stopped Spinelli, doubt they will now" Gretchen sighed. "Your right about that" John chuckled.

"Were is the rest of the family? Spinelli is always going on about so many different cousins I've lost count" Gus asked. John let out a hearty laugh. "You guys are the first here but they'll make their way in during the week. I'm picking up a group on Thursday that are flying in from Sorrento. The rest should arrive on Saturday morning at the latest" John answered. "Sounds like an awesome christmas is brewing" Vince announced as he went around with the tray of hot chocolate.

"My wife has been itching to organise the christmas get together again. Bob's family in Italy decided to host it last year, since they couldn't make it" John said. "That sounds lovely" Gretchen chimed as she took a sip of hot chocolate. "It was a nice change in my opinion. But it became sort of a tradition to host it here. Has that christmas vibe and my wife lives to organise events" John chuckled.

"It will be pretty crowded with us here as well" Gus pointed out. "Don't you worry about that. The more the merrier. There is never enough in a family. Beside we need to officially welcome our new memeber" John said cautiously. The gang knew what he meant but decided not to bring it up. "I'll leave you kids be, I need to check how their doing in the back. Hopefully my wife hasn't talked their ear off yet" John said as he rose up and walked to the kitchen.

 **Extra long chapter to make up for my absence, sorry about that guys. We had lovely weather and I've been using it up. My friends were leaving soon for holidays so I was spending some time with them before they left. Hope you enjoy and let me know what you think :)**

 **Love,**

 **Natalia**


	16. Chapter 16

A grinned spread across Spinelli's face as she briskly made her way to the stable. This was one of the only things she was looking forward to during the holiday; seeing Twister.

Her grin grew even wider as she saw him, cantering around in the frosty paddock.

"Hey boy" Spinelli called out to him. At the sound of her voice the blue roan pinto quarter horse stopped and lifted its head towards her. He gave a neigh in greeting and started to gallop over to her, giving a happy buck in the process. Spinelli laughed at his response. He slowed down to a walk and arched his elegant neck over the fence.

"I'm happy to see you too, we have a lot to catch up on" Spinelli said as she petted shook his head, his two coloured black and white mane flying everywhere. He rubbed his head against Spinelli's arm in affection. Spinelli always marvelled at horse's body language and how they seemed to understand everything you tell them.

"He's been pacing since this morning, it's like he knew you were coming" Spinelli turned around to see Gordy making his way over.

"Of course he knew. He always knows" Spinelli replied proudly. Gordy grinned. He was a head taller than Spinelli and two years older. The two looked nearly nothing alike.

Gordy had a dimpled smile, with a tan complexion because of spending majority of the time outside. His nose was sprinkled with light freckles, he had hazel eyes and a mop of messy thick brown hair.

"Wanna join me for a ride?" Gordy asked as he joined Spinelli and mimicked her position of leaning against the fence. Spinelli smiled.

"Not today, I think I would fall asleep and fall off". Gordy chuckled "fair enough".

"Beside your stuck with teaching 5 newbies how to ride tomorrow" Spinelli teased. "Me? I think you mean we. And its 6 actually" Gordy teased back.

Spinelli gasped dramatically. "I can ride, thank you very much" Spinelli stuck her tongue out. Gordy rolled his eyes. "I meant your doppelganger" he said.

Spinelli's face fell. Gordy noticed.

"Sorry, I know it's still a sensitive subject" Gordy said biting his lip. "But we can't exclude her" Gordy explained."I know" Spinelli sighed. Gordy squeezed her shoulder in reassurance.

"I'll be back in an hour, maybe less. You can bring him in. It's getting late" Gordy said as he handed Spinelli a leadrope and walked off. "C'mon boy" Spinelli coaxed as she opened the gate, fastened the leadrope on Twisters halter and lead him back into the stables.

Morning's were definitely not Spinelli's strong points. Especially early morning. Gretchen on the other hand had no problem waking up early and on many occasions where the two had to share a room, she was Spinellis alarm clock.

"C'mon Spinelli you'll miss breakfast if you don't get up now!" Gretchen huffed as she wrestled to get Spinelli's covers off the petite girl, who had an iron grip and was refusing to let go.

After a few more minutes Gretchen had enough. "I'm done, I give up!" Gretchen announced as she lifted her hands up in defeat and left the room. Spinelli smiled victorious as she snuggled back into the comfort of her didn't last long as a weight flopped on top of her. Spinelli grunted in surprise at the extra weight.

"Gretch, get off! I don't want to get up yet it's too early" Spinelli drawled tiredly.

"Last time I checked I wasn't a redhead" a male voice chuckled. Spinelli lifted her head and was met with shining michevious baby blue eyes.

"Ugh, teej! Off!" Spinelli groaned as she tried to push him off. He didn't budge but he propped himself up onto his elbows to get his weight off Spinelli.

"Not until you get up" T.J smirked. Spinelli rolled her eyes.

"Was Gretchen this desperate that she sent you" Spinelli grumbled."We both know I'm probably the only one who can get you up and I heard her as I left my room. I figured I would help" T.J grinned as if one of his master plans was being put into action.

"What a hero" Spinelli said sarcastically. "Yours truly" T.J replied with a wink. Spinelli was too tired to react. Instead she just flopped back into her pillow and tried to go back to sleep.

"Oh no you don't!" T.J laughed as he got up and scooped up Spinelli into his arms.

"T.J!" Spinelli shrieked in surprise at the sudden action.

He laughed at her reaction and made his way downstairs. Everyone stopped talking but started to chuckle at the sight of T.J entering the dining room with a squirming Spinelli. He plopped Spinelli down on a chair and sat beside her.

"I can't believe you did that!" Spinelli remarked.

T.J grinned before digging into his breakfast. Spinelli sat back in her chair and crossed her arms. But after her aunt placed a plate of bacon, toast and a fried egg before her. It only took a second for Spinelli to be happily digging in.

It was a chilly morning as the gang stood by the arena waiting for Gordy and John. "I'm gonna become a popsicle if they don't hurry up" Spinelli mumbled as she bounced around from one foot to the other in an attempt to keep warm. T.J shuffled over to her after the boys finished making snowballs from the light layer of snow that coated the tufts of the grass that grew around the perimeter of the arena.

"It's not that bad, there could be a blizzard" T.J said. Even though his shoulders were hunched up from the cold.

"Don't jinx it!" Spinelli glared. T.J laughed. The two unknowingly huddled closer together to keep warm. Spinelli was wearing gloves but was still rubbing her hands to keep them warm. T.J instinctively grabbed her hands and rubbed them in between his as he blew on them. At the moment the two were too cold to pay attention to their actions.

Their friends on the other hand were not.

"We need to get them under a mistletoe this year" Gretchen commented. "Definitely" Gus chuckled and Mickey nodded in agreement. Vince looked away from the scene uncomfortably. His crush was still present but it was starting to dim down. Mostly because he knew she didn't feel the same. He just hadn't found a way yet to move on. It didn't help that Spinelli teased him all the time about his mysterious crush.

"I can't believe their not together" Renee joined in. "You're lucky that John and Gordy are running late or you would've been tardy" Gus commented. "Yeah, I don't think anyone would notice or care" Renee replied gang exchanged a glance. They really wanted to help Renee but they didn't want Spinelli to feel like they turned on her. They'll have to talk to T.J later, maybe he could have a plan.

"Sorry for running late guys. I had to take a phone call" John said as he joined them, Gordy following.

"Everyone ready?" He asked. The teens replied eagerly. "Good, follow me" John motioned as he made his way to one of the paddocks. There was a group of 10 horses roaming around in it."Now I know everyone is eager to be put into a saddle and gallop off into the sunset but I'm sorry to say that is not how it works" John said. The gang chuckled.

"They say a great rider can mount any horse. From experience I can agree. But there is never anything more important than a bond between a horse and a rider, it can really make a difference" John explained.

"So, I'm not gonna pick a horse for you. Your gonna pick one yourself" John group exchanged excited glances.

"Now the 10 horses in this paddock I can assure you are safe. But that doesn't mean they don't have their quirks and personalities. Don't just judge by the looks. I want you to trust your gut" John explained."So who wants to go first?" John grinned. Vince's hand shot up the fastest. John pointed him out.

"Don't get stomped on" T.J teased."Just watch Teej, I'm gonna get the best horse there is" Vince boasted. "Twister is already taken and I hope your horse can match your ego" Spinelli laughed, everyone joined.

"Hahaha, very funny" Vince said as he took the leadrope Gordy held out for him and entered the paddock. "Look out for a dark bay" Spinelli called. Vince gave her a confused look. "Trust me" Spinelli stood in the paddock for a good minute and looked around unsure. He had no idea what a dark bay was and none of the horses caught his eye.

They seemed quiet.

Polite.

Safe.

Complete opposite of what Vince was looking for. He was about to just grab a curious bay that wandered over to him when a stallion barged through the group with his head and tail head high. He had a strong agile build and was a beautiful dark bay. He had a white stripe on his handsome face and three white socks.

The horse knew he got everyone's attention and he was loving it. He trotted around showing off.

"I think we found a horse version of Vince" Gretchen commented and the rest laughed. Vince rolled his eyes a smile pulling at his lips."If that's true then he's perfect for me" Vince smirked as he caught the stallion and lead him out the paddock.

"I knew Rebound would be the one" Spinelli smirked. "Rebound?" Vince questioned. "That's his name" Spinelli replied. That made everyone burst out laughing even harder. "God even the name matches!" T.J wheezed. Vince joined in.

"Gus how about you go next?" John encouraged. Gus gulped. "Um, okay?" Gus said it more like a question than an answer. He timidly grabbed a leadrope from Gordy and stepped into the bay, that Vince was about to grab before Rebound showed up, walked over to Gus curiously. Gus took a step back in surprise as the horse tried to sniff him. "Relax Gus, they won't hurt you. Especially not Tilly" John reassured the short boy.

Gus reached out and patted the mare awkwardly. She stood calmly and enjoyed the affection."She's so sweet" Mickey cooed. "What do you think Gus?" John asked trying to read the boy."Yeah but I don't think she's the one" Gus replied as he slowly walked away from Tilly to look at the other horses. Tilly didn't seem to mind. She was content with the pat she was given and proceeded to nibble at the grass.

"I think I want that golden one" Gus pointed to a buckskin that was nuzzling with a piebald."Marengo" John nodded. "Like Napoleon's horse?" Gus questioned. "You know your history" John chuckled. "Yeah, I guess" Gus shrugged. "My dad's in the army so I grew up learning a lot from him" Gus explained as he cautiously clipped the leadrope onto Marengo.

"Pretty impressive" John commented. "Thanks" Gus smiled as he lead Marengo out from the paddock. John gestured towards Gretchen who took the hint and grabbed the took the quickest to pick her horse as she strode over to a chestnut mare and clipped the leadrope. "Well that was quick" John laughed.

"Bet you Gretchen analyzed them while Vince and Gus picked their horses so she had already decided what horse to pick" Spinelli laughed. "You know me too well Spinelli" Gretchen smiled leading the mare out. She had a star on her forehead and four white socks.

"Athena? Right?" Spinelli questioned. "Right" John agreed. "Matches even better" Mickey gushed."Wasn't she some type of goddess?" T.J scratched his head. "Greek goddess. Mostly known as the goddess of wisdom" Gretchen explained."Oh yeah!" T.J made a face of realization as he nodded.

"May I please go next, I think I know which one I want" Mickey asked stretching out the please. John nodded handing him a leadrope. Mickey happily took it and walked into the paddock. "What's the white ones name?" He asked pointing to a heavy built grey horse.

"That's Nightingale, he's a grey percheron" Gordy answered. "But he's white?" Mickey said confused. Gordy chuckled."White horses are known as grey in horse terms" Gordy replied. "Oh!" Mickey made a face of understanding before catching Nightingale and leading him out.

"So T.J? Renee? Who's next?" John asked.

"Ladies first" T.J smiled. "No its okay, you can go" Renee said glancing around nervously. "I insist, you seem to have a horse in mind already" T.J encouraged. Renee opened her mouth to protest but decided it'd be better if she just let it she took the leadrope from John and walked into the paddock.

Spinelli had narrowed her eyes at the exchange."How do you know she has a horse in mind?" Spinelli asked. "She's been eyeing that horse over there for a while now" T.J said as he pointed at a dapple grey Renee was walking over to.

Spinelli raised her eyebrow at this. Why was T.J observing Renee?

She decided to just ignore it and watched as Renee came out of the paddock with the beautiful sleek dapple grey."I always loved Rainstorm. I used to ride him all the time" Spinelli commented. Renee whipped her head towards Spinelli. This is the first time she said anything to her since they met, which came as a shock not just to her but everyone else.

Spinelli was surprised herself but ignoring Renee wasn't going to make her disappear. Might as well try accepting it. Renee smiled petting Rainstorm and gave a nod of agreement to Spinelli who in return gave a tight smile back.

"I guess It's my go" T.J said breaking the awkward tension that built up and grabbing a leadrope from Gordy. He entered the paddock and patted Tilly who wandered Vince and Gus it took T.J a bit of looking around before settling on an adorable chestnut paint horse with a thick white gelding was an average height and had a pudgy but agile built. He had a cute round stomach, a thick cosy neck and strong legs and haunches.

Spinelli tried to hide her laughter but in the end failed. Her friends gave her a confused look while Gordy and John grinned."What's so funny?" T.J asked.

"It's just...so ironic...that you picked Mischief...out of all the horses" Spinelli laughed. Their friends slightly caught on by hearing the name mischief. T.J rolled his eyes amused."No! It's not just that!" Spinelli laughed. T.J rose his eyebrows awaiting an explanation.

"We got Mischief right after Twister. His previous owners had too much trouble with him and didn't want him" Gordy started as Spinelli caught her breath."They were very bitter towards him so we figured how bad could he be? These people are exaggerating" Spinelli took over. She took a big breath. "No fence can hold this horse" Spinelli said.

T.J laughed. "So he likes jumping?" Vince chuckled holding Rebound while Gordy tacked him."His legs and haunches are a dead give away that he's a jumper!" Spinelli said as if it was obvious, as she ran her hand over his rump."We didn't name him Mischief for nothing. He's a little devil! He knows how to open stall doors! And he's always stealing my mints!" Spinelli exclaimed rubbing Mischiefs neck but glaring at him playfully. Everyone laughed.

"That means I made the right choice" T.J chuckled patting the devil himself.

 **That was probably the longest chapter, hope that's okay ? I hope you enjoyed, let me know what you thought. I have trouble writing about younger kids because at this point I'm in a teenage mindset lol, so I try to think back on what happened and how I used to think back in that age. I might go back and tweak this story once I'm finished it**

 **I would also like to reply to Oncer review; yes they were 9 but at the end of fourth grade or before 5th grade they were all 10, except Spinelli. In 5th grade they turned 11, in 6th grade they turned 12 so going into middle school they would be turning 13. So I should have made Spinelli younger so thank you for spotting it out for me, I'll go back and change it :)**

 **P.s. I know a fair bit about horses but if you spot any mistakes please let me know :)**

 **Love,**

 **Natalia** ❤


	17. Chapter 17

"How's it coming along you two?" Spinelli shouted at the older teen who was doing a lesson with T.J. Gordy suggested that an hour of private lessons for everyone could improve their riding quicker.

"He's pretty much a natural but he still needs some work" Gordy called back.

"Don't lift your hands so high" Gordy corrected. T.J lowered his hands.

"Like that?" he asked.

"Perfect" Gordy praised.

It was already Friday which meant her family from Italy were already here. Her dad's side was packed with cousins. There wasn't many in her age range, majority of them were younger. While her older cousins hung out with Joey and Vito. Her friends were welcomed warmly but because of the language barrier they didn't talk much. Vince and Gretchen were finishing off christmas assignments while Mickey and Gus decided to play monopoly. Gretchen made her sit down yesterday and helped her and T.J with their christmas assignments.

"Okay, now let's go into a trot" Gordy said. T.J squezzed his legs and Mischief happily broke into a brisk trot.

"Up and down. That looks great just get those heels lower!" Gordy commented. Spinelli smiled as she stopped to watch.

T.J was a natrual with horses although he still looked a bit funny when he trotted. But he was the second most comfortable at riding from the gang. Vince was obviously first, as he was a natrual at any sport.

"Shorten those reins!" Spinelli and Gordy called at the same time. They all burst out laughing.

"Okay go back to a walk" Gordy said. T.J did as he was told.

"I'm gonna get some trotting poles and you are going to try some jumps? how does that sound?" Gordy smiled.

"That sounds awesome" T.J's face broke into a grin.

"Wanna join Spin? I'm gonna tack up Aspen and join in as well" Gordy suggested.

"It's T.J private lesson. He should get the most out of it" Spinelli replied.

"Don't be silly Spin, it will be fun" T.J encouraged.

"Unless...your afraid I'm quickly catching up to you and Mischief could out-jump Twister. According to you he is a natural jumper" T.J's eyes gleamed. He knew he got her.

"You are so on Detweiler" Spinelli laughed as she rushed to tack up Twister.

* * *

"There should be a prize for the winner" T.J suggested as the two sat waiting for Gordy to finish setting up the jumps.

"I'm gonna win either way so what's the point" Spinelli teased.

"If your so confident you'll beat me then get something out of it and settle a prize" T.J chuckled.

"You have to let me wear your hat on the first day back to school" Spinelli said. T.J's raised his eyebrows.

"Okay but if I win then you have to wear a skirt to school for one week" T.J smirked.

"Deal" Spinelli said as the two shook hands.

"And if I win you two have to kiss" Gordy shouted as he mounted Aspen, his dapple bay paint gelding.

"WHAT!?" T.J and Spinelli exclaimed. Gordy laughed.

"Gordy you can't be serious" Spinelli said as she raised her eyebrows.

"If your so confident you'll win then why does it matter" Gordy said as he joined the two. Spinelli narrowed her eyes.

"Fine have it your way" Spinelli shrugged.

"T.J is going to go first and then I'm gonna put the jumps up higher for us" Gordy said. The two nodded.

"I want you to trot the course T.J. Your only goal is to clear it" Gordy explained. T.J nodded.

T.J started the course trotting but even after Gordy's protests he still finished the course cantering with only one refusal.

"Good boy" T.J patted Mishief's neck as they joined Gordy and Spinelli. Gordy gave T.J a stern look.

"I told you to trot it!" Gordy said. T.J grinned.

"But I cantered and I didn't do pretty bad" T.J said.

"Maybe not but unless me and Gordy don't clear it then you won't win" Spinelli said as Gordy put up the jumps.

"I don't mind" T.J shrugged. Spinelli raised an eyebrow.

"If you don't win, your hat is on the line or your gonna have to kiss me" Spinelli said as she looked at T.J and laughed. T.J looked back at her and Spinelli's breath hitched at how intense his gaze was.

"Not really a loss is it?" T.J replied. A blush covered Spinelli's face. T.J was flirting...and she didn't know how to respond to it. She was grateful when Gordy said she could jump. She had no problem clearing the course until she got to the last jump _._ For some reason what T.J said popped into her mind.

 _"Not really a loss is it?"_

Spinelli's concentration was lost and as Twister flew over the last jump she heard the thump of the wooden pole hit the ground. She nearly cleared the course...with only one fault.

"Good ride Spin shame you missed the last jump. What happened?" Gordy asked. Spinelli was confused as him.

"I don't know. I guess I lost my focus" Spinelli said. She glanced at T.J. Her blush came back as did the little wrestlers in her stomache and her heart started beating faster. She closed her eyes. She knew that feeling all too well. She had expierenced it towards Johnny V and she did such a good job at ignoring it towards her best friend for years. But after what he said it's like the feelings came back ten times stronger.

What if she knocked that jump down subconsciencly?

What if she wanted to kiss T.J?

the relazation hit her hard.

 _"Not really a loss is it?"_

What if he wanted to kiss her as well _._

* * *

 **So it's pretty short but I'm happy with it, hope you like it as well. Sorry for the problems with my uploading. I wasn't aware the first time I uploaded this chapter that something was wrong, thank you to Oncer93 for pointing it out.  
**

 **p.s I think Rose-aki was the first to use the 'little wrestlers' as a reference to butterflies in the stomach. I hope it's okay that I used it as well :)**

 **Let me know what you think**

 **Love,**

 **Natalia** ❤


	18. Chapter 18

Twister nudged Spinelli as she brushed the geldings soft coat. He did it a few times trying to get the girls attention but she was lost in her own thoughts. He decided he wasn't getting anywhere with her so he reached around to her back jean pockets and tried to get to the mints himself. Spinelli yelped at his sudden action.

"Twister!" Spinelli scolded.

The gelding nudged her pocket again, telling her what he wanted. Spinelli sighed. She reached around and took them out. "Here" Spinelli said as she held out the mint to the blue roan. Twister happily gobbled it up and swished his tail in approval. He then nudged her in a way to ask what's wrong.

"Sorry boy, I've got a lot on my mind" Spinelli said as she patted the gelding's neck. He looked at her, his eyes shining with a knowing look.

 _"I can't believe I knocked down two jumps. That's called bad luck" Gordy sighed as he joined T. J and Spinelli while patting Aspen's neck._

"Don't look at me like that!" Spinelli protested. Twister nudged her playfully as if he was teasing her.

"I am not disappointed. I have no reason to be" Spinelli mumbled. Twister whined.

"Oh stop it!" Spinelli blushed as she gently pushed Twister's face away from her. He grunted in response, as if saying have it your way.

 _"I guess you win Spin" Gordy smiled. T.J and Spinelli glanced at each other._

"I can't believe a horse teases me more than my friends combined" Spinelli muttered. The clattering of hooves was heard as T.J and Gordy came into the stables. Spinelli stiffened at hearing their voices.

 _"You don't look too happy" Gordy chuckled_

 _T.J kept on giving her that intense gaze. The one he used when he was trying to figure something out. Spinelli couldn't look him in the eye. She knew he could read her like an open book._

"We don't have many lesson's left but for a newbie you really made huge progress Teej" Gordy praised as he patted the younger boys back.

"Thanks" T.J replied as he led Mischief into his stall, which was across from Twister's and beside Aspen's. He started untacking the gelding just how Gordy taught him throughout the week. "Spin, when you and T.J are finished send Vince down to me. Thanks" Gordy called as he untacked Aspen and brought his tack back into the tack room.

"Do you want me to brush Aspen for you?" Spinelli called back as she came out of Twister's stall.

"You sure?" Gordy asked.

"I don't mind. It's gonna get dark soon, it'll save you time" Spinelli shrugged as she grabbed Aspen's brushes and stepped into his stall. Aspen's ears pricked up and he nudged her in greeting. "Thanks!" Gordy called as he jogged off to the arena.

* * *

For the first time ever Spinelli and T.J didn't know what to talk about. The two worked in silence, both having a million thoughts racing through their minds. Spinelli was nearly finished with Aspen by the time T.J broke the silence. "It's starting to snow" T.J commented as he stepped out of Mischief's stall. Spinelli peered out from Aspen's stall to see. It was small and gentle but Spinelli knew it would pick up.

"About time. I was worried it wouldn't snow this year" Spinelli said.

"We should go inside before it starts to pick up" T.J said as he looked at her.

Spinelli blushed and nodded. She shook her head. What was wrong with her? she never blushed this easy. She also never felt so shy around T.J before. She shouldn't be feeling like this. She should be happy and relieved. She won after all. They didnt have to kiss. Instead she felt a horrible empty feeling in her stomach...a part of it was hunger, she did only eat half a toast this morning.

She realized she wanted to kiss T.J. She had wanted to for a long time but she was too stubborn to admit it. She also didn't want to ruin their friendship by giving into her fanatsy's and just kissing him. It would ruin everything and she couldn't lose T.J. With the family problems she was having at the moment T.J and her friends were the only thing that helped her through it, she couldn't risk losing that.

"Let's go" Spinelli said as she finished checking if the stalls were closed.

"Spin, wait!" T.J stopped her in her tracks. "What's wrong?" he asked his blue eyes filled with worry. He turned her around gently to face him.

"Nothing" Spinelli replied as she crossed her looked down at her feet and bit the inside of her cheeck.

"You know you can tell me everything" T.J said as he stepped closer to her. He scanned her facing trying to read her. To get any kind of sign of what might be bothering her. But even though he could usually read Spinelli without any problems, this time she was really putting her walls up. Which meant whatever was on her mind was important. That made T.J more determine to find out what's wrong.

Spinelli stayed quiet avoiding eye contact with him. He was right, she could tell him everything. She always has. Just not this.

"You won't look me in the eye since we left the arena" T.J said hurtfully. It really hurt him that she was acting this way, he was starting to feel he was to blame. Spinelli could pull out a very long list of what she hated, it could probably roll all the way out to China. But the one thing she hated the most was hurting the people she cared about. Wether it was her doing or someone else's.

Spinelli's stubborness kicked in and she looked up at him. She kicked herself internally for her stupid pride because as she made eye contact with his baby blue eyes the urge to kiss him hit her even harder and without thinking she said the first thing that came to mind.

"Well I wouldn't have to avoid it if I didn't have the urge to kiss you when we make eye contact!" Spinelli burst. Her eyes widned as she realized what she said. T.J blinked in surprise as a blush covered his cheecks. He wanted to pinch himself to see if he was dreaming. But before he could respond Spinelli bolted towards the house.

"Spin! wait!" T.J called after her.

Spinelli couldn't believe she just said that. She just ruined everything. T.J is never gonna look the same at her again. He might not even want to be around her now! how could she be this stupid. She scolded herself for her big mouth. She quickly ran into Gretchen's room startling both her and Vince.

"Spinelli are you okay? you look like you've seen a ghost" Vince commented as he came closer to her. He tried to touch her forehead but Spinelli swatted his hand away. "Very unlikely Vince, from my research this place has no source of paranormal activity" Gretchen said as she pushed up her glasses.

"Vince, out, now!" Spinelli hissed as she pushed the confused tall male out the door.

"Hey! what? why?" Vince yelled as he was pushed out the door. Spinelli quickly locked the door behind him ignoring his protest.

"Spinelli, what happened?" Gretchen asked. Spinelli obvioulsy had something urgent to tell her.

"Me and my big mouth" Spinelli groaned as she flopped onto Gretchen's bed.

"Did you finally confess?" Gretchen asked as she smirked down at the petitie girl.

"In a way?" Spinelli replied her head still buried in the pillow.

"What do you mean?" Gretchen asked trying to understand what happened.

"If yelling at him that 'I can't make eye contact with you because I'll kiss you' is confessing. Then yeah I confessed" Spinelli said sarcastically as she rolled onto her back.

"What have I done! I have completely ruined our friendship" Spinelli panicked as she proceed to roll around in despair. "Don't say that! How did he react?" Gretchen asked leaning over Spinelli. Spinelli looked up at the slim girl who always seemed to know how to sort out her problems.

"...I ran away before he reacted..." Spinelli bit her lip in embarassment.

Gretchen sighed and shook her head. It always amused Gretchen how the small girl could take out anyone who crossed her but when it came to feelings she avoided it like a plague. Spinelli spent majority of the evening talking with Gretchen. She was even kind enough to bring her dinner upstairs so she didn't have to face T.J.

"You can't avoid him forever you know that? You'll gave to confront him sometime" Gretchen said as she typed on her laptop. Spinelli groaned in reponse.

"I know. But it's christmas tomorrow. I don't want to make the situation worse" Spinelli said, still sprawled out on Gretchen's bed. Gretchen gave up on trying to convince Spinelli that T.J felt the same way, the spunky female was having none of it. Spinelli was convinced her friendship with T.J had been ruined and nothing was changing her mind. Gretchen just hoped they could sort it out soon, it hurt to see Spinelli so oblivious to the truth.

* * *

 **So I wasn't sure how to end this one but I think I'll stop it there. This is only the start of the drama that's about to happen so sit tight ;)**

 **As always hope you enjoyed and let me know what you think :)**

 **Love,**  
 **Natalia ❤**


	19. Chapter 19

Waking up on a christmas morning should make you happy. It's christmas afterall. But for Spinelli all she felt was dread as she entered the living room where everyone was gathered. Her younger cousins have already ripped open their presents and where happily occupied on the floor. When her aunt asked her if she could babysit while they go last minute shopping for christmas dinner, usually Spinelli would avoid it, kids weren't really her thing. But it was a good way to avoid a certain someone so she agreed. Mickey also offered to help.

"Merry christmas Spinelli" Mickey said as he pulled the girl into a tight hug. She returned it and craked a small smile. "Merry christmas Mickey" Spinelli replied.

"When are we exchanging gifts?" Spinelli asked the tall blonde who sat himself comfortably down on the floor among her three younger cousins. "After christmas dinner, T.J said it'll be fun the build up the suspense" Mickey smiled. Typical T.J, making something as simple as secret santa into something bigger. Spinelli half smiled. They started doing secret santa in 5th grade, they figured it would be fun and it would save everyone money from buying everyone something. Of course it was T.J's idea.

* * *

The evening came around quicker than Spinelli wanted. She was lucky enough not to have run into T.J all day. From what she heard from Gus, him and Vince were down at the stables all day. She made sure to sit at the other end of the table away from T.J during christmas dinner. She felt T.J glancing at her throughout the dinner but she ignored his gaze. The gang had been exchanging worried looks but tried to break the tension with conversation and ignoring the strange behaviour between the two.

As the gang gathered in the living room the two again sat on opposites ends away from each other. To get away from the awkwardness Spinelli offered to get some snacks from the kitchen and before anyone interjected she had disappeared into the kitchen. She let out a long sigh, this was starting to get really tiring.

"You two really need to talk" a voice said. Spinelli turned her head towards the source and saw Renee cautiously enter the kitchen. The twin was still stepping around Spinelli like ice even though they were now civil with each other. They haven't interacted much but Spinelli acknowledged her existence.

"What?" Spinelli asked confused.

"You and T.J. You need to talk" Renee clarified. Spinelli eyes narrowed slightly at her statement.

"What's happening between me and T.J is none of your business" Spinelli snapped. Renee wasn't fazed and crossed her arms over her chest. She opened her mouth to say something but decided against it. She grabbed two sugar cookies and left. Spinelli stayed rooted to her spot for a while just thinking. She kicked herself mentally. She knew Renee was right but it was easier said than done. She quitly slipped back into the living room with the tray of snacks. But she noticed quickly that T.J was missing.

"Where's Teej?" Spinelli asked looking around. The rest of the gang shrugged. "He was here a minute ago" Gus said turning his attention away from the window.

"Sorry Spin, we got distracted by the snow outiside. It looks like a heavy snowstorm" Vince said still looking out the window. Spinelli furrowed her eyebrows and decided to check the back porch. She quickly noticed the red cap and smiled but stopped aburtly in her tracks. T.J wasn't alone on the porch, he stood huddled together with Renee. Spinelli felt a pang in her chest. Her eyebrows furrowed further and she felt the pain grow stronger as she saw T.J put an arm around her, like he used to do with her. Tears started pricking her eyes but she refused to let them spill. She was Spinelli, she wasn't going to let herself cry over a stupid boy.

But for some reason he looked back and his baby blue eyes widned as he saw her. Spinelli's instinct told her to run so she did. She heard him calling her name but she could barley hear him. She just needed to get away, somwhere far. She barley managed to grab her coat as she rushed out the door. She didn't know where she was going or what she was doing, she just let her instinct take over. Soon she had tacked and was mounted on Twister. T.J, Renee and the gang reached the stables just in time to watch her canter off to the trail.

"SPINELLI!" T.J shouted desperatly over the wind and snow that was coming down faster and heavier by the minute.

* * *

Spinelli's vision was blurred from the snow and by the tears that were rapidly falling down her face. The wind was whipping against her face harshly as she galloped through the winding trail. She ignored the cold and the pine branches that scraped her face.

She confessed to liking him and he goes and acts affection towards her twin! the jealousy was really getting to her. If someone told her T.J would do that she would've laughed them off, she never believed he was capable of something like that.

Spinelli was too caught up in her thoughts to pay attention to her riding and as Twister was turning a corner his hooves lost grip and he tripped and slipped down the steep bank of the path. She didn't even have enough time to scream as she was harshly thrown from the saddle, down the slope and into a pine tree. The impact winded her and her head slammed back against the tree bark.

Twister picked himself up clumsily and shook the snow from his coat. He stepped over and nudged Spinelli who lay sprawled out unconscience in the snow. The gelding tried to climb back up but the bank was too steep and the snow slipped from under his hooves making him slide back. He tried to climb back up a few times but the result was still the same. He whined in fright and furstration as he twisted in tight circles trying to figure a way out but eventually realized he was trapped.

* * *

 **I'll post the next chapter as soon as I can, I'm pretty busy with getting ready for school :P**

 **Question: Who do you want to find Spinelli?**

 **\- Renee: finally have a break the ice and sister moment**

 **or**

 **\- T.J: no kiss yet, but lot's of fluff and clearing the air between them**

 **Let me know and I hope you enjoyed :)**

 **Love,  
**

 **Natalia  
**


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